Eth 125

As I sit here in our longhouse which is part of the village culture I remember how we got here and think about it often. I want all who read this journal to know where we came from. My family and I are part of the Bear Clan of the Mohawk Indian tribe is one of six tribes that form what was once the Iroquois Nation. I guess people would consider me a Native American, though we still have our own democratic government. The Mohawk were once called the gate keepers of the Iroquois’ since we occupied the eastern most part of what will be New York State. On October 22, 1784 we signed a peace treaty with the United States and boundaries of the Six Nations of the Iroquois were established (Access Genealogy.com, 2010). This is a far cry from the old days when we freely migrated across what is now New York State and into Canada and Vermont.

On May 29, 1797 the land that once belonged to the Iroquois Nation and the Mohawk tribe was taken by New York and the United States sanctioned the cession (Access Genealogy.com, 2010). We were forced to vacate the lands that we once roamed free and segregated us to the reservation. Many of the people are troubled by this but we made our way to the Saint Regis reservation, located on the Saint Lawrence River just at the United States boarder with Canada. It was a place with plenty of water, hunting and fishing and land for farming. They say this is where we can live in peace. Our village is close to the other villages of the European settlers.

Our society is much different than the European settlers. My grandmother who is the Clan mother makes many of the decisions for our family and even the village, she and other clan mothers chose the tribal council. Unlike the Europeans we live in a matriarchal society (Native Languages of the Americas website, 2010).

Until recently my Grandmother and family was happy and content with our living conditions, but as more and more settlers move closer to the...