Description
The Mohawk people are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern New York State, primarily around Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. As one of the five original members of the Iroquois League, the Mohawk are known as the Keepers of the Eastern Door, the traditional guardians of the Iroquois Confederation against invasions from the east. Through the centuries Mohawk influence extended far beyond their territory and was felt by the Dutch who settled on the Hudson River and in Manhattan. Population estimates suggested some 47,000 Mohawk descendants in the early 21st century.
Language
Mohawk is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation
Culture
Like the other Iroquois tribes, the women engaged in corn (maize) agriculture; men hunted during the fall and winter and fished during the summer. Related families lived together in longhouses, a symbol of Iroquois society. Each Mohawk community also had a local council that guided the village chief or chiefs. The Mohawk had nine representatives in the confederacy, three each from their Turtle, Wolf, and Bear clans. Traditional Mohawk religion is mostly Animist. "Much of the religion is based on a primordial conflict between good and evil."[28] Many Mohawks continue to follow the Longhouse Religion. Historically, the traditional hairstyle, was to remove most of the hair from the head by plucking (not shaving) tuft by tuft of hair until all that was left was a smaller section. The women wore their hair long tied back into a single braid