John Mohawk (30 August 1945 – 13 December 2006) was an American historian, writer, and social activist.

Background

He was a Seneca, born into the Turtle clan on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, located in western New York State. He graduated fro
Hartwick College
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1967, and later earned a Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo.

Work

Mohawk was a major visionary of the Haudenosaune Confederacy of Nations who played a singularly important role in fashioning the intellectual bridge of the traditional Indian movement toward the national and international community. Firmly based in the traditional Seneca Longhouse, he was a practitioner and master singer and orator. He was a writer, journalist, researcher, and lecturer. A specialist in the field of culture and

community economic development Community economic development (CED) is a field of study that actively elicits community involvement when working with government, and private sectors to build strong communities, industries, and markets. It includes collaborative and participatory ...

and an activist and commentator on the cultural survival of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, Mohawk was a resolute traditionalist, social activist, and negotiator in local and international conflicts. He helped negotiate the conflict between the Sandinista government of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

and the

Miskito Miskito may refer to: * Miskito people, ethnic group in Honduras and Nicaragua ** Miskito Sambu, branch of Miskito people with African admixture ** Tawira Miskito, branch of Miskito people of largely indigenous origin * Miskito language, original l ...

people in 1983, and was a peace guide at armed standoffs between Native traditionalists and government agencies in North America. Mohawk was a co-founder of several organizations supporting Native Americans in the United States and internationally, such as the Indigenous Peoples Network and the Emergency Response International Network, the Seventh Generation Fund, the Indian Law Resource Center and the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

White Corn Project. He worked tirelessly to revitalize indigenous agriculture, healthy food (e.g., Iroquois white corn) and the "

Slow Food Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food and traditional cooking. It was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 and has since spread worldwide. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and r ...

" movement. He was a journalist, a longtime editor, and contributor to "

Akwesasne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; french: Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne; moh, Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial (Ont ...

Notes", "Daybreak", and "Indian Country Today," and director of the Center for Indigenous Studies at the Center of the Americas

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

(SUNY) in Buffalo, New York.

Books

* ''The Iroquois Creation Story: John Arthur Gibson and JNB Hewitt's Myth of the Earth Grasper'' * ''Utopian Legacies: A History of Conquest and Oppression in the Western World'' * ''The Red Buffalo'' * ''Thinking in Indian,'' a posthumously published collection of essays, edited by Jose Barreiro, is in print (Fulcrum). He was also a co-editor of Exiled in the Land of the Free (with

Oren Lyons Oren R. Lyons Jr. (born 1930, Seneca) is a Native American Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan. The Seneca are one of the Six Nations of the historic Haudenosaunee Confederacy.Native American Journalists Association The Native American Journalists Association, based in Norman, Oklahoma, on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is an organization dedicated to supporting Native Americans in journalism. The organization hosts the annual National Native Media ...

(NAJA), as well as a father and grandfather, teacher and educator of several generations of Indian people, a shaper of activist scholars, and a generous mentor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohawk, John 1945 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century Native Americans Hartwick College alumni Historians from New York (state) Native American activists Native American journalists Native American writers Seneca people University at Buffalo alumni 20th-century American male writers

Background

Work

Books

See also

References