Mohawk

Mohawk refers to the Kanien’kehá:ka, a Native American/First Nations people of the Iroquoian language family and one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The term Mohawk is an exonym used by neighboring Algonquian-speaking peoples; the people themselves call themselves Kanien’kehá:ka, meaning “people of the flint.”

Its traditional homeland spans the Mohawk River valley in present-day upstate New York and parts of southern Ontario and Quebec. The Mohawk are one of the Six Nations within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and have participated in its governance, including the Great Law of Peace, which guides relations among member nations. Before and after European contact they were active in long-distance trade networks and regional alliances.

The Mohawk language, Kanien’kehá:ka, is an Iroquoian language with ongoing revitalization efforts. Socially, Mohawk communities historically organized around matrilineal clans and longhouses, with clan mothers playing a role in selecting leaders. Leadership within the confederacy has often operated through sachems and councils.

Today Mohawk communities are found in Canada and the United States, including Kahnawà:ke, Kanesatake, Tyendinaga, Akwesasne, and Saint Regis, among others. The people participate in modern governance, education, and cultural preservation, while maintaining traditions, language, and arts.

The name Mohawk is also widely known as the distinctive hairstyle featuring a central strip of hair, often associated with Mohawk people and broader Indigenous and non-Indigenous culture; many regard the hairstyle with respect to cultural heritage and issues of cultural appropriation.