HE MOHAWK TRIBE

The Mohawk Nation, then known as Kanien'kehake (people of the flint) was one of the five founding Nations of the Iroquois League (or confederacy). The name Mohawk was given to the tribe by the Algonquin and was later adopted by the Europeans who had difficulty pronouncing Kanien'kehake. The other Nations in the Confederacy were the Cayuga, the Seneca, the Oneida, and the Onondaga. The sixth Nation to join were the Tuscarora. This website is meant as a resource for those of you who seek to know more about the Mohawk tribe and the Iroquois League. We have reproduced important historical documents such as theorganization of the Six Nations Confederacy, the Iroquois Constitution, the Contracts between the State of New York and different tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, specifying their several cessions and reservations of land and a profile on Theyebdabegea, a.k.a. Joseph Brant; a Mohawk leader who sided with the British during the Revolutionary War. In addition to historical documents, you will find a retelling of the Prophecy of the Seventh Generation, an explanation of the commonly see symbols and designs of the Haudenosaunee, and a complete online edition of James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel, The Last of the Mohicans. Although it is about the Mohicans, a tribe which had been conquered by the Mohawk, the novel is representative of the life of Northeastern tribes and their dealings with the Europeans, and often contains references to the Mohawk. Finally, as the Mohawk are the keepers of the Eastern Door, we seek to serve as a doorway towards other online resources and have also included a discussion board so that you may exchange ideas, comments, ask questions, and find the answers you seek. We plan to update the site with more documents and stories in the future, so be sure to visit regularly. HE MOHAWK TRIBE

The Mohawk Nation, then known as Kanien'kehake (people of the flint) was one of the five founding Nations of the Iroquois League (or confederacy). The name Mohawk was given to the tribe by the Algonquin and was later adopted by the Europeans who had difficulty pronouncing Kanien'kehake. The other Nations in the Confederacy were the Cayuga, the Seneca, the Oneida, and the Onondaga. The sixth Nation to join were the Tuscarora. This website is meant as a resource for those of you who seek to know more about the Mohawk tribe and the Iroquois League. We have reproduced important historical documents such as theorganization of the Six Nations Confederacy, the Iroquois Constitution, the Contracts between the State of New York and different tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, specifying their several cessions and reservations of land and a profile on Theyebdabegea, a.k.a. Joseph Brant; a Mohawk leader who sided with the British during the Revolutionary War. In addition to historical documents, you will find a retelling of the Prophecy of the Seventh

Generation, an explanation of the commonly see symbols and designs of the Haudenosaunee, and a complete online edition of James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel, The Last of the Mohicans. Although it is about the Mohicans, a tribe which had been conquered by the Mohawk, the novel is representative of the life of Northeastern tribes and their dealings with the Europeans, and often contains references to the Mohawk. Finally, as the Mohawk are the keepers of the Eastern Door, we seek to serve as a doorway towards other online resources and have also included a discussion board so that you may exchange ideas, comments, ask questions, and find the answers you seek. We plan to update the site with more documents and stories in the future, so be sure to visit regularly.
The Mohawks, like many indigenous tribes in the Great Lakes region, sometimes wore a hair style in which all their hair would be cut off except for a narrow strip down the middle of the scalp from the forehead to the nape, that was approximately three finger widths across.
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This style was only

used by warriors going off to war. The Mohawks saw their hair as a connection to the Creator, and therefore grew it long. But when they went to war, they cut all or some of it off, leaving that

narrow strip. The women wore their hair long often with traditional bear grease or tied back into a single braid. Their heads were often not covered by a covering or hat, often wearing nothing on their heads in winter. Traditional dress styles of the Kanien'keh:ka Mohawk peoples consisted of women going topless in summer with a skirt of deerskin. In colder seasons, women wore a full woodland deerskin dress, leather tied underwear, long fashioned hair or a braid and bear grease. There was otherwise nothing on their head, except several ear piercings adorned by shell earrings, shell necklaces, and also puckered seam ankle wrap moccasins. The women also used a layer of smoked and cured moss as an insulation absorbency for menses, as well as simple scraps of leather were used. Later menses use consisted of cotton linen pieces where pilgrim settlers and missionaries provided trade and introduced of such items.
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The traditional dress styles of the Kanien'keh:ka Mohawk men consisted solely of a breech cloth of deerskin in summer, deerskin leggings and a full piece deerskin shirt in winter, several shell strand earrings, shell necklaces, long fashioned hair or a three finger width forehead-to-nape hair row which stood approximately three inches from the head and puckered seamed wrap ankle moccasins. The men would also carry a quill and flint arrow hunting bag as well as arm and knee bands. During the summer, traditional dress styles of the Kanien'keh:ka Mohawk children consisted of nothing up to the ages of thirteen, the time before they were ready for their warrior or woman passages or rites.
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Later dress after European contact combined some cloth pieces such as the males ribbon shirt in addition to the place of the deerskin clothing, and wool trousers and skirts. For a time many Mohawk peoples incorporated a combination of the older styles of dress with newly introduced forms of clothing. According to author Kanatiiosh in "Hodenasaunee Clothing and & Other Cultural Items" Mohawk as a part of the Hodenasaunee Confederacy: "Traditionally used furs obtained from the woodland, which consisted of elk and deer hides, corn husks, and they also wove plant and tree fibers to produce [the] clothing". Later Sinew or animal gut was cleaned and prepared as a thread for garments and footwear and was threaded to porcupine quills or sharp leg bones, in order to sew or pierce eyeholes for threading. Clothing dyes were obtained of various sources such as berries, tree barks, flowers, grasses, sometimes fixed with urine.
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Generally a village of Mohawk people wore the same design of clothing applicable to their gender, with individualized color and artwork designs incorporated onto the clothing and moccasins. Durable clothing that was held by older village people and adults was handed down to others in their family sometimes as gifts, honours, or because of outgrowth. Mohawk clothing was sometimes reminiscent of designs from trade with neighbouring First Nation tribes, and was more closely in resemblance to that of other Six Nations confederacy nations however much originality applicable to the Mohawk nation peoples style of dress was often kept as the foundation of the style they wore.

Marriage
Mohawk Nation wedding ceremonies are conducted by a chief, since the chief holds the sanction to perform the greatest rituals before the Creator. In a marriage, the couple vow their commitment before the Creator. The marrying man and woman then unite in a lifelong relationship, and there is not any custom for divorce. This is not held as a punishment, however; the Mohawk Nation people are a matrilineal society and hold marriage as a great commitment which should be nurtured and respected. Much respect is given to the woman by her husband because the woman is the head of the household. The traditional marriage ceremony included a day of celebration for the man and woman, a formal oration by the chief of the woman's nation and clan, community dancing and feast, and gifts of respect and honour by community members. Traditionally these gifts were practical which the couple would use in their everyday religious and working lives. For clothing the man and woman wore white rabbit leathers and furs with personal adornments, usually made by their families, to stand apart from the rest of the community's traditional style of dress during the ceremony. The "Rabbit Dance Song" and other social dance songs were sung by the men, where they used gourd rattles and later cow-horn rattles. In the "Water Drum", other well-wishing couples participated

in the dance with the couple. The meal would commence after the ceremony and everyone who participated would eat. Today the marriage ceremony may follow that of the old tradition or incorporate newer elements, but it is still used by many Mohawk Nation marrying couples. In addition, there are couples who have chosen to marry in the European manner, as well as in the Longhouse manner, with the Longhouse ceremony usually being held first.
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