The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival

by Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall, Philippe Blouin (Editor), Matt Peterson (Editor)

The first collection of its kind, this anthology by members of the Mohawk Warrior Society uncovers a hidden history and paints a bold portrait of the spectacular experience of Kanien'kehá:ka survival and self-defense. Providing extensive documentation, context, and analysis, the book features foundational writings by prolific visual artist and polemicist Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall (1918–1993)—such as his landmark 1979 pamphlet, The Warrior’s Handbook , as well as selections of his pioneering artwork. This book contains new oral history by key figures of the Rotisken'rhakéhte's revival in the 1970s, and tells the story of the Warriors’ famous flag, their armed occupation of Ganienkeh in 1974, and the role of their constitution, the Great Peace, in guiding their commitment to freedom and independence. We hear directly the story of how the Kanien'kehá:ka Longhouse became one the most militant resistance groups in North America, gaining international attention with the Oka Crisis of 1990. This auto-history of the Rotisken'rhakéhte is complemented by a Mohawk history timeline from colonization to the present, a glossary of Mohawk political philosophy, and a new map of Iroquoia in Mohawk language. At last, the Mohawk Warriors can tell their own story with their own voices, and to serve as an example and inspiration for future generations struggling against the environmental, cultural, and social devastation cast upon the modern world.

Genres: Indigenous, Nonfiction, History, Sociology

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 10, 2023

Reviews

[s · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful reorientation to Kanien'kehá:ka/Mohawk history, revolving around the figure of artist and activist Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall. General contextual notes, a glossary of Kanien'keha terms, a timeline, Karoniaktajeh's writings and scans of his art, and interviews of other community members who were politically active in the period from the foundation of the Mohawk Warrior Society around 1970 to the Oka crisis (Oka opportunity?) of 1990.

The name is self-conscious: the concept of Rotisken'rakéhte, translated by Hall as 'Mohawk Warrior Society', is more literally glossed as they who carry the earth and designates adult men of the community, whose traditional initiation involves receiving a pouch containing soil from their home village. On the choice of translation: "You know the white man has brainwashed himself into believing that every Indian is a fighting machine."

Four broad movements over 500+ years:

1. The precolonial oral constitution (Kaianere’kó:wa/Great Law) and political architecture of the Haudenosaunee confederacy.

2. The Haudenosaunee-Dutch treaty of 1613, codified in the Two Row Wampum. Encodes equal and non-interfering sovereignties in the visual motif of two canoe-tracks running in parallel.

3. The Christianizing (better: Quakerizing) influence of Seneca prophet Handsome Lake in the 1790s, which Karoniaktajeh sees as treason to the Great Law and the cultural smuggling in of superstition about hell and salvation and so on.

4. The main focus: reassertion of the Great Law and longhouse political culture in the 1970s, with Karoniaktajeh playing a key role. This culminates in 1974 when he and other radicals found the autonomous Mohawk community of Ganienkeh across the colonial border in New York state.

Ganienkeh is not a reservation. The community reached a de facto truce with New York (Carter's federal government seems mostly uninvolved?) after 3 years of armed struggle in 1977. Part of their legal argument invokes the authority of the Two Row Wampum. Wikipedia calls it a 'permanent nonreservation settlement', the legal ambiguity mirrors what later happens with Kanesatake in Canada in 1990. I embarrassingly had no idea about all this despite living within 100 km of it. They are still going as far as I can tell (despite threats legal and otherwise): http://www.ganienkeh.net/; http://www.ganienkeh.net/33years/.

[Luna M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was great— it provides a helpful overview of the history, culture, organization, and beliefs of the Mohawk Nation and its relationship with other Indigenous nations in North America. I’d suggest reading the appendices first, as they contain a detailed historical timeline, list of concepts, locations, and names, and a short pronunciation guide that provided a good foundation for the rest of the book. The intro calls the book “both a compendium of oral tradition and a handbook for struggle,” and I think the first half achieved those goals well. The illustrations were also gorgeous!

My criticism is entirely devoted to the second half of the book, which is dedicated to Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall. The first chapter is a list of tributes/ memories shared by people who knew him. The second chapter is devoted to excerpts of his writings. I think this chapter could have used more careful editing, the addition of explanatory notes putting some things in context, or a significant reduction of the text.

While helpful as context, the chapter is both incredibly disorganized and has some stuff that is inconsistent with current ideas of cross-movement solidarity, social justice, and progressive politics more generally. To give a few (of many) examples. Its take on Palestine seems to romanticize the settler Israeli state, citing it as a role model to create an ethnoreligious nation and offhandedly saying they eventually decided to stop waiting for god to fix their problems and had to “kill a lot of Arabs” to get Israel— such a missed opportunity to make the easy connection that many other folks in Indigenous studies have made between settler colonialism in North America and Israel. Its theory of racial formation poses that humans don’t have a common ancestor and that Native Americans, Black people, white people, and “Asiatics” each sprung up independently on each of those continents millions of years ago. At some point the author maybe sort of treats positively the fact that “Hitler admitted he got his idea of the Blitzkrieg from the Iroquois” (in a passage where he’s generally celebrating the fact that war manuals around the world incorporated Iroquois war strategies). Some of its ideas of gender are equally at odds with today’s liberation movements, and it bizarrely seems to treat Christianity as the only religion out there. Etc.

I understand that these are historical archives, but Louis Hall wrote these pages only a few decades ago. If we can justifiably criticize some of the mainstream thinkers for ideas that—although popular a few hundred years ago— are inconsistent with today’s understandings of collective liberation and justice, we should extend the same criticism to folks within our own movements.

[Comrade Zupa Ogórkowa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Echoing Luna’s review, the first half is excellent- providing a detailed overview of traditions, customs, laws, and governance structure of the Mohawks and accounts of their militant resistance to assert their rights. The second half, which features excerpts of Louis Hall’s writings doesn’t stand up a strong. His written work does not take away from how brilliant of an artist he is- I loved the examples of his paintings included in the book. However, I found his writing disorganized, repetitive, and some of the political analysis included deserving of scrutiny- his stance on communism is particularly reductive.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Righteous stuff in here. The details about the Haudenosaunee confederacy and its history, especially the “Handsome Lake Code” and the ways European religion was interwoven into indigenous teachings to ultimately undermine the spirit of smaller nations under the aegis of the confederacy, were fascinating, as was the history of the Mohawk Warrior Society itself. Like others have said there some peculiarities in Karoniaktajeh’s writings in the back half of the book but I don’t think they necessarily overshadow the continued effectiveness of his call to reinvigorate a fighting spirit among his own and all indigenous peoples.

[Sarah Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be required reading for anyone in movement organizing spaces. An anthology that tells the life of Luis Karoniaktajeh Hall, an incredible indigenous artist & activist, through oral interviews of his comrades and about the actions that he participated in for the liberation of his people in the 1960/70/80s. explains & shows through historical examples why peaceful protest is the tool of the colonizer to keep people oppressed. Also explains in detail the democracy created by Indigenous people long before the colonizers came, of which Hall argued we should go back to.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really inspiring history, this book will remind you that you matter. I wish things were different, though.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.