Mohawk Tribe By Maxwell Wray October, 15th, 2013

The Mohawk lived in New York and Ontario, but now live on reservations.

History Before the Europeans arrived the Mohawk had wars against other tribes. Then someone they call peacemaker said the tribes should join and fight their common enemy, the Algonquin. The tribes that joined were the Oneidas, Cayuga, Seneca and the Onondaga. They called themselves the Iroquois .

History (continued) The French came in 1534, the Dutch in 1609, and the English in 1664. The trading was important to the Mohawk, because that’s when they first got stuff like guns and beads. The Mohawk became friends with the Dutch and the other nations that came. They signed a treaty that said the nations wouldn’t take land from them, but they later broke that treaty and moved more men into the Mohawk land.

Way of Life The Mohawk women farm. They grow corn, melons, squash, pumpkins, beans, tobacco, sunflowers and peas. They also had apple orchards and maple syrup farms. The men hunt, fish and trade. Men dress in a two piece deer skin garment and wore moccasins. They fish using spears. They wait until night and they go out on canoes with a torch in front of the boat. When a fish comes by, they spear it.

Way of Life (shelter) For shelter the Mohawk lived in longhouses. Longhouses were poles bent into an upside down “u” shape with elm bark covering the poles. The longhouses were about 20 feet wide and 150 feet long. One clan lives in a longhouse and the tribe was split into 3 clans: bear, wolf and turtle. When the men and women got married, the man moved into the wife’s home.

Belief The Mohawk believe that they got here when a woman fell through a hole in the sky. Then a group of herons caught her and carried her to a giant turtle. There she had a daughter who had twins and the population grew.

Presentation by Maxwell Wray The End Presentation by Maxwell Wray