The
Mohawk
(Kanienkeh,
Kanienkehaka "People of the Flint")
The Mohawk or Kanienkeh Nation originally lived in upper New York State
through Southern Quebec and the Green
Mountains of Vermont. The Kanienkeh helped
to found the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee ... the People of the Longhouse, also known as the
League of Peace). The other members of the Iroquois Confederacy include the Seneca,
Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida,
and Tuscarora. The Mohawks were the “Keepers of the
Eastern Door”, and their responsibilities to the league included defense of the
eastern flank of their confederacy. Today, the Mohawk Nation retains land in southern
Ontario, along the St. Lawrence river in Quebec, and in inland New York State.