The Mohawk people  represent the easternmost outpost 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. Click here for a 15-minute video posted on March 30, 2024 by World History.

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. They established an extensive trade network throughout the Northeast and Midwest.

(Above) Johannes Megapolensis (1603–1670), a dominie (pastor) of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Dutch colony of New Netherland beginning in 1642, was among the Dutch who took over former Mohawk maize fields. He was later allowed to teach the Christian message. (Above, center and right) In 1661 the French attacked the Mohawk, burning Native villages.

During King Philip’s War (1675-1676), Pokanoket Sachem Metacom decided to winter with the Mohawk but, encouraged by the English, the Mohawk turned on the Pokanokets and killed all but 40 of the 400 warriors, leading to Metacom’s loss of the War.