Mohawk ( / ˈ m oʊ h ɔː k / ) or Kanienʼkéha ("[language] of the Flint Place") is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation , located primarily in current or former Haudenosaunee territories, predominately Canada (southern Ontario and Quebec ), and to a lesser extent in the United States (western and northern New York ). The word "Mohawk" is an exonym . In the Mohawk language, the people say that they are from Kanien:ke ('Mohawk Country' or "Flint Stone Place") and that they are Kanienʼkehá꞉ka "People of the Flint Stone Place" or "People of the Flint Nation".
128-598: Kateri Tekakwitha ( pronounced [ˈɡaderi deɡaˈɡwita] in Mohawk ), given the name Tekakwitha , baptized as Catherine , and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Mohawk / Algonquin Catholic saint and virgin . Born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in present-day New York, she contracted smallpox in an epidemic; her family died and her face
256-787: A patriarchal society, was the matrilineal kinship system of Iroquois society and the related power of women. The Canadian historian D. Peter MacLeod wrote about the Canadian Iroquois and the French in the time of the Seven Years' War: Most critically, the importance of clan mothers, who possessed considerable economic and political power within Canadian Iroquois communities, was blithely overlooked by patriarchal European scribes. Those references that do exist, show clan mothers meeting in council with their male counterparts to take decisions regarding war and peace and joining in delegations to confront
384-480: A Christian Indian mission in Sault Saint-Louis. Tekakwitha found it was a community full of other Native Americans who had also converted. Catherine joined them in 1677. Tekakwitha was said to have put thorns on her sleeping mat and lain on them while praying for her relatives' conversion and forgiveness. Piercing the body to draw blood was a traditional practice of the Mohawk and other Haudenosaunee nations. This
512-629: A Mohawk war party by the shores of what is now called Lake Champlain, and again in June 1610, Champlain fought against the Mohawks. The Iroquois became well known in the southern colonies in the 17th century by this time. After the first English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia (1607), numerous 17th-century accounts describe a powerful people known to the Powhatan Confederacy as the Massawomeck , and to
640-497: A Native religious order, but the idea was rejected by the Jesuits. She lived at Kahnawake the remaining two years of her life. Father Cholonec wrote that Tekakwitha said: I have deliberated enough. For a long time, my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen Him for husband, and He alone will take me for wife. The Church considers that in 1679, with her decision on
768-631: A cognate expression in a related Iroquoian language; in earlier sources it is variously spelled "Kanosoni", "akwanoschioni", "Aquanuschioni", "Cannassoone", "Canossoone", "Ke-nunctioni", or "Konossioni". More transparently, the Haudenosaunee confederacy is often referred to as the Six Nations (or, for the period before the entry of the Tuscarora in 1722, the Five Nations). The word is Rotinonshón:ni in
896-658: A distinct language, territory, and function in the League. The League is composed of a Grand Council, an assembly of fifty chiefs or sachems , each representing a clan of a nation. When Europeans first arrived in North America, the Haudenosaunee ( Iroquois League to the French, Five Nations to the British) were based in what is now central and west New York State including the Finger Lakes region, occupying large areas north to
1024-400: A few hours left, villagers gathered together, accompanied by the priests Chauchetière and Cholenec, the latter providing the last rites . Catherine Tekakwitha died at around 15:00 (3 p.m.) on Holy Wednesday , April 17, 1680, at the age of 23 or 24, in the arms of her friend Marie-Therèse. Chauchetière reports her final words were, "Jesus, Mary, I love you." After her death, the people noticed
1152-674: A half years. Claude Chauchetière and Pierre Cholenec were Jesuit priests who played important roles in Tekakwitha's life. Both were based in New France and Kahnawake. Chauchetière was the first to write a biography of Tekakwitha (1695), and Cholenec followed (1696). Cholenec, who had arrived first, introduced traditional items of Catholic mortification to the converts at Kahnawake. He wanted them to adopt these rather than use Mohawk ritual practices. Both Chauchetière and Tekakwitha arrived in Kahnawake
1280-614: A language immersion school (pre-K to grade 8) in Kanienʼkéha to revive the language. With their children learning it, parents and other family members are taking language classes, too. The radio station CKON-FM (97.3 on-air in Hogansburg, New York and Saint Regis, Quebec and widely available online through streaming), licensed by the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, broadcasts portions of its programming in Kanienʼkéha . The call sign
1408-562: A large number of morphemes . Mohawk expresses a number of distinctions on its pronominal elements: person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular, dual, plural), gender (masculine, feminine/indefinite, feminine/neuter) and inclusivity/exclusivity on the first person dual and plural. Pronominal information is encoded in prefixes on the verbs; separate pronoun words are used for emphasis. There are three main paradigms of pronominal prefixes: subjective (with dynamic verbs), objective (with stative verbs), and transitive. There are three core components to
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#17330935802241536-713: A larger cultural sense, all being descended from the Proto-Iroquoian people and language. Historically, however, they were competitors and enemies of the Iroquois Confederacy nations. In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, and over 81,000 in the United States. Haudenosaunee ("People of the Longhouse") is the autonym by which the Six Nations refer to themselves. While its exact etymology
1664-532: A name composed in this whimsical fashion". Hale suggested instead that the term came from Huron , and was cognate with the Mohawk ierokwa "they who smoke", or Cayuga iakwai "a bear". In 1888, J. N. B. Hewitt expressed doubts that either of those words exist in the respective languages. He preferred the etymology from Montagnais irin "true, real" and ako "snake", plus the French -ois suffix. Later he revised this to Algonquin Iriⁿakhoiw as
1792-464: A non-Catholic. One Jesuit told Kellogg that if he would become a Catholic, help would come to him. Joseph did so. The Jesuit gave him a piece of decayed wood from Kateri's coffin, which is said to have made him heal. The historian Allan Greer takes this account to mean that Tekakwitha was known in 18th-century New France, and she was already perceived to have healing abilities. Other miracles were attributed to Kateri: Father Rémy recovered his hearing, and
1920-418: A noun. For example: 1) oʼ nenste "corn" 2) o ienʼkwa "tobacco" Here, the prefix o- is generally found on nouns found in natural environments. Another prefix exists which marks objects that are made by humans. 3) ka nhoha "door" 4) kaʼ khare "slip, skirt" Here, the prefix ka- is generally found on human-made things. Phonological variation amongst the Mohawk dialects also gives rise to
2048-626: A nun in Montreal was cured by using items formerly belonging to Kateri. Such incidents were evidence that Kateri was possibly a saint. Following the death of a person, sainthood is symbolized by events that show the rejection of death. It is also represented by a duality of pain and neutralization of the other's pain (all shown by her reputed miracles in New France). Chauchetière told settlers in La Prairie to pray to Kateri for intercession with illnesses. Due to
2176-478: A physical change. Cholenec later wrote, "This face, so marked and swarthy, suddenly changed about a quarter of an hour after her death and became in a moment so beautiful and so white that I observed it immediately." Her smallpox scars were said to disappear. Tekakwitha purportedly appeared to three individuals in the weeks after her death; her mentor Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo, her friend Marie-Therèse Tegaiaguenta, and Chauchetière. Anastasia said that, while crying over
2304-950: A result of the Great Law of Peace , said to have been composed by the Deganawidah the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha , and Jigonsaseh the Mother of Nations. For nearly 200 years, the Six Nations/Haudenosaunee Confederacy were a powerful factor in North American colonial policy, with some scholars arguing for the concept of the Middle Ground, in that European powers were used by the Iroquois just as much as Europeans used them. At its peak around 1700, Iroquois power extended from what
2432-828: A result of the Beaver Wars, they pushed Siouan -speaking tribes out and reserved the territory as a hunting ground by right of conquest . They finally sold to British colonists their remaining claim to the lands south of the Ohio in 1768 at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix . Historian Pekka Hämäläinen writes of the League, "There had never been anything like the Five Nations League in North America. No other Indigenous nation or confederacy had ever reached so far, conducted such an ambitious foreign policy, or commanded such fear and respect. The Five Nations blended diplomacy, intimidation, and violence as
2560-546: A short documentary film released in 2016 that explores personal experiences with Mohawk language revitalization in Tyendinaga , a Mohawk community roughly 200 kilometres east of Toronto , Ontario, Canada. The film was set to be shown at the 4th annual Ethnografilm festival in Paris, France . The Mohawk language is used in the 2017 film Mohawk , the 1991 film Black Robe , and the 2020 television series Barkskins . The language
2688-493: Is a reference to the Mohawk word "sekon" (or "she:kon"), which means "hello". A Mohawk language immersion school was established. Mohawk parents, concerned with the lack of culture-based education in public and parochial schools, founded the Akwesasne Freedom School in 1979. Six years later, the school implemented a Mohawk language immersion curriculum based on a traditional cycle of fifteen seasonal ceremonies, and on
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#17330935802242816-887: Is a small Mohawk community on the north bank of the Mohawk River , west of Fonda, New York . Kanatsiohareke was created to be a " Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Reverse", teaching Mohawk language and culture. Located at the ancient homeland of the Kanienkehaka (Mohawk), it was re-established in September 1993 under the leadership of Thomas R. Porter (Sakokwenionkwas-"The One Who Wins"). The community must raise their own revenue and frequently hold cultural presentations, workshops, and academic events, including an annual Strawberry Festival. A craft shop on site features genuine handmade Native crafts from all over North America. The primary mission of
2944-497: Is debated, the term Iroquois is of colonial origin. Some scholars of Native American history consider "Iroquois" a derogatory name adopted from the traditional enemies of the Haudenosaunee. A less common, older autonym for the confederation is Ongweh’onweh , meaning "original people". Haudenosaunee derives from two phonetically similar but etymologically distinct words in the Seneca language : Hodínöhšö:ni:h , meaning "those of
3072-410: Is located near Montreal, many individuals speak both English and French, and this has contributed to a decline in the use of Mohawk language over the past century. The Mohawk Survival School, the first immersion program was established in 1979. The school's mission was to revitalize Mohawk language. To examine how successful the program had been, questionnaire was given to the Kahnawake residents following
3200-615: Is named after her in Niskayuna, NY. Mohawk language The Mohawks were extremely wealthy traders, as other nations in their confederacy needed their flint for tool-making. Their Algonquian-speaking neighbors (and competitors), the People of Muh-heck Heek Ing ("food-area place"), a people called by the Dutch " Mohicans " or "Mahicans", called the People of Ka-nee-en Ka "Maw Unk Lin" or Bear People . The Dutch heard and wrote that as "Mohawks" and so
3328-535: Is purely French, and is formed from the [Iroquoian-language] term Hiro or Hero , which means I have said —with which these Indians close all their addresses, as the Latins did of old with their dixi —and of Koué , which is a cry sometimes of sadness, when it is prolonged, and sometimes of joy, when it is pronounced shorter. In 1883, Horatio Hale wrote that Charlevoix's etymology was dubious, and that "no other nation or tribe of which we have any knowledge has ever borne
3456-596: Is today New York State, north into present-day Ontario and Quebec along the lower Great Lakes – upper St. Lawrence , and south on both sides of the Allegheny mountains into present-day Virginia and Kentucky and into the Ohio Valley . The St. Lawrence Iroquoians , Wendat (Huron), Erie , and Susquehannock , all independent peoples known to the European colonists, also spoke Iroquoian languages . They are considered Iroquoian in
3584-660: The Feast of the Annunciation , Tekakwitha's conversion was truly completed, and with regard to biographies of the early Jesuits, she is regarded as the "first Iroquois virgin ". Although Tekakwitha is rather often regarded as a consecrated virgin , she could, owing to circumstances, never receive the consecration of virgins by a bishop. Nevertheless, the United States Association of Consecrated Virgins took Kateri Tekakwitha as its patroness. The Jesuits had founded Kahnawake for
3712-498: The Mohawk language . The origins of the name Iroquois are somewhat obscure, although the term has historically been more common among English texts than Haudenosaunee. Its first written appearance as "Irocois" is in Samuel de Champlain 's account of his journey to Tadoussac in 1603. Other early French spellings include "Erocoise", "Hiroquois", "Hyroquoise", "Irecoies", "Iriquois", "Iroquaes", "Irroquois", and "Yroquois", pronounced at
3840-540: The Neutral Nation (1651), Erie Tribe (1657), and Susquehannock (1680). The traditional view is that these wars were a way to control the lucrative fur trade to purchase European goods on which they had become dependent. Starna questions this view. Recent scholarship has elaborated on this view, arguing that the Beaver Wars were an escalation of the Iroquoian tradition of "Mourning Wars". This view suggests that
3968-611: The Ohio Valley . From east to west, the League was composed of the Mohawk , Oneida , Onondaga , Cayuga , and Seneca nations . In about 1722, the Iroquoian -speaking Tuscarora joined the League, having migrated northwards from the Carolinas after a bloody conflict with white settlers. A shared cultural background with the Five Nations of the Iroquois (and a sponsorship from the Oneida) led
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4096-640: The Onontio [the Iroquois term for the French governor-general] and the French leadership in Montreal, but only hint at the real influence wielded by these women. Eighteenth-century English historiography focuses on the diplomatic relations with the Iroquois, supplemented by such images as John Verelst 's Four Mohawk Kings , and publications such as the Anglo-Iroquoian treaty proceedings printed by Benjamin Franklin . A persistent 19th and 20th century narrative casts
4224-756: The Petun , Erie, and Susquehannock. Trying to control access to game for the lucrative fur trade, they invaded the Algonquian peoples of the Atlantic coast (the Lenape , or Delaware ), the Anishinaabe of the boreal Canadian Shield region, and not infrequently the English colonies as well. During the Beaver Wars, they were said to have defeated and assimilated the Huron (1649), Petun (1650),
4352-687: The Pure and Tender Lily , the Flower among True Men , the Lily of Purity and The New Star of the New World . Her tribal neighbors – and her gravestone – referred to her as "the fairest flower that ever bloomed among the redmen." Her virtues are considered an ecumenical bridge between Mohawk and European cultures. Fifty years after her death, a convent for Native American nuns opened in Mexico. Indian Catholic missions and bishops in
4480-459: The corn/beans/squash agricultural complex enabled them to support a large population. They made war primarily against neighboring Algonquian peoples . Muir uses archaeological data to argue that the Iroquois expansion onto Algonquian lands was checked by the Algonquian adoption of agriculture. This enabled them to support their own populations large enough to resist Iroquois conquest. The People of
4608-542: The endonym Haudenosaunee ( / ˌ h oʊ d ɪ n oʊ ˈ ʃ oʊ n i / HOH -din-oh- SHOH -nee ; lit. ' people who are building the longhouse ' ) are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of Native Americans and First Nations peoples in northeast North America. They were known by the French during the colonial years as the Iroquois League , and later as the Iroquois Confederacy , while
4736-1202: The liturgical calendar . Kateri Tekakwitha is featured in four national shrines in the United States: the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha National Shrine in Fonda, New York; the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York; the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.; and The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods , an open-air sanctuary in Indian River, Michigan . The latter shrine's design
4864-467: The 1880s initiated a petition for officially allowing veneration of Kateri. They asked for the veneration of Tekakwitha in tandem with the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and René Goupil, two Catholic missionaries who had been slain by the Mohawk in Osernnenon a few decades before Kateri's birth. They concluded their petition by stating that these venerations would help encourage Catholicism among other Native Americans. The process for Kateri Tekakwitha's canonization
4992-457: The 1930s. Numerous churches, schools and other Catholic institutions have been named for her, particularly since her canonization. Among these are Canadian schools in Kitchener , Markham , Hamilton , Orléans ( Ottawa ), and Calgary , Alberta. In the United States, Catholic Churches are named after her in Dearborn, MI, Buffalo, TX, Sparta, NJ, Schenectady, NY (parish and school), Irondequoit, NY (parish and school), and Santa Clarita, CA. A school
5120-426: The 19th century. The historiography of the Iroquois peoples is a topic of much debate, especially regarding the American colonial period. French Jesuit accounts of the Iroquois portrayed them as savages lacking government, law, letters, and religion. But the Jesuits made considerable effort to study their languages and cultures, and some came to respect them. A source of confusion for European sources, coming from
5248-414: The Algonquian names for their Iroquois competitors. The Iroquois Confederacy is believed to have been founded by the Great Peacemaker at an unknown date estimated between 1450 and 1660, bringing together five distinct nations in the southern Great Lakes area into "The Great League of Peace". Other research, however, suggests the founding occurred in 1142. Each nation within this Iroquoian confederacy had
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5376-569: The Atlantic Ocean; from the St. Lawrence River to the Chesapeake Bay . Michael O. Varhola has argued their success in conquering and subduing surrounding nations had paradoxically weakened a Native response to European growth, thereby becoming victims of their own success. The Five Nations of the League established a trading relationship with the Dutch at Fort Orange (modern Albany, New York), trading furs for European goods, an economic relationship that profoundly changed their way of life and led to much over-hunting of beavers. Between 1665 and 1670,
5504-442: The Catholic Church fathers' hagiography of Tekakwitha reflected "trials and rewards of the European presence in the New World." American composer Nellie von Gerichten Smith (1871–1952) created an opera entitled Lily of the Mohawks: Kateri Tekakwitha (text by Edward C. La More). It was not the first stage performance of her life; Joseph Clancy's play, The Princess of the Mohawks , was performed often by schoolchildren starting in
5632-469: The Church among Native Americans. Some feel her sainthood reflects her unique position as someone who can bridge the two cultures and create unity. Paula E. Holmes interviewed several elderly Native American women in the late 1990s and found that Kateri is "as part of their Indian familiar and familial heritage." More than 300 books have been published in more than 20 languages on the life of Kateri Tekakwitha. The historian K. I. Koppedrayer has suggested that
5760-416: The Confederacy dispute this historical interpretation, regarding the League of the Great Peace as the foundation of their heritage. The Iroquois may be the Kwedech described in the oral legends of the Mi'kmaq nation of Eastern Canada. These legends relate that the Mi'kmaq in the late pre-contact period had gradually driven their enemies – the Kwedech – westward across New Brunswick , and finally out of
5888-405: The English simply called them the "Five Nations". The peoples of the Iroquois included (from east to west) the Mohawk , Oneida , Onondaga , Cayuga , and Seneca . After 1722, the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora people from the southeast were accepted into the confederacy, from which point it was known as the "Six Nations". The Confederacy likely came about between the years 1450 CE and 1660 CE as
6016-420: The French as the Antouhonoron . They were said to come from the north, beyond the Susquehannock territory. Historians have often identified the Massawomeck / Antouhonoron as the Haudenosaunee. In 1649, an Iroquois war party, consisting mostly of Senecas and Mohawks, destroyed the Huron village of Wendake . In turn, this ultimately resulted in the breakup of the Huron nation. With no northern enemy remaining,
6144-407: The Grand Council, which still exists. The Iroquois Confederacy was the decentralized political and diplomatic entity that emerged in response to European colonization, which was dissolved after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War . Today's Iroquois/Six Nations people do not make any such distinction, use the terms interchangeably, but prefer the name Haudenosaunee Confederacy. After
6272-405: The Great Lakes. Many archaeologists and anthropologists believe that the League was formed about 1450, though arguments have been made for an earlier date. One theory argues that the League formed shortly after a solar eclipse on August 31, 1142, an event thought to be expressed in oral tradition about the League's origins. Some sources link an early origin of the Iroquois confederacy to
6400-608: The Haudenosaunee League. Those on the borders of Haudenosaunee territory in the Great Lakes region competed and warred with the nations of the League. French, Dutch, and English colonists, both in New France (Canada) and what became the Thirteen Colonies , recognized a need to gain favor with the Iroquois people, who occupied a significant portion of lands west of the colonial settlements. Their first relations were for fur trading , which became highly lucrative for both sides. The colonists also sought to establish friendly relations to secure their settlement borders. For nearly 200 years,
6528-453: The Iroquois League. The explorer Robert La Salle in the 17th century identified the Mosopelea as among the Ohio Valley peoples defeated by the Iroquois in the early 1670s. The Erie and peoples of the upper Allegheny valley declined earlier during the Beaver Wars . By 1676 the power of the Susquehannock was broken from the effects of three years of epidemic disease, war with the Iroquois, and frontier battles, as settlers took advantage of
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#17330935802246656-473: The Iroquois as "an expansive military and political power ... [who] subjugated their enemies by violent force and for almost two centuries acted as the fulcrum in the balance of power in colonial North America". Historian Scott Stevens noted that the Iroquois themselves began to influence the writing of their history in the 19th century, including Joseph Brant (Mohawk), and David Cusick (Tuscarora, c. 1780–1840). John Arthur Gibson (Seneca, 1850–1912)
6784-408: The Iroquois established seven villages on the northern shores of Lake Ontario in present-day Ontario , collectively known as the "Iroquois du Nord" villages . The villages were all abandoned by 1701. Over the years 1670–1710, the Five Nations achieved political dominance of much of Virginia west of the Fall Line and extending to the Ohio River valley in present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. As
6912-529: The Iroquois had "such absolute Notions of Liberty that they allow no Kind of Superiority of one over another, and banish all Servitude from their Territories". As raids between the member tribes ended and they directed warfare against competitors, the Iroquois increased in numbers while their rivals declined. The political cohesion of the Iroquois rapidly became one of the strongest forces in 17th- and 18th-century northeastern North America. The League's Council of Fifty ruled on disputes and sought consensus. However,
7040-416: The Iroquois had lost control of considerable territory. Knowledge of Iroquois history stem from Haudenosaunee oral tradition , archaeological evidence, accounts from Jesuit missionaries, and subsequent European historians. Historian Scott Stevens credits the early modern European value of written sources over oral tradition as contributing to a racialized, prejudiced perspective about the Iroquois through
7168-442: The Iroquois launched large-scale attacks against neighboring tribes to avenge or replace the many dead from battles and smallpox epidemics. In 1628, the Mohawk defeated the Mahican to gain a monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch at Fort Orange (present-day Albany), New Netherland . The Mohawk would not allow northern native peoples to trade with the Dutch. By 1640, there were almost no beavers left on their lands, reducing
7296-402: The Iroquois resisted attacking their own peoples. The Iroquois remained a large politically united Native American polity until the American Revolution , when the League was divided by their conflicting views on how to respond to requests for aid from the British Crown. After their defeat, the British ceded Iroquois territory without consultation, and many Iroquois had to abandon their lands in
7424-403: The Iroquois to middlemen in the fur trade between Indian peoples to the west and north, and Europeans eager for the valuable thick beaver pelts. In 1645, a tentative peace was forged between the Iroquois and the Huron, Algonquin, and French. In 1646, Jesuit missionaries at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons went as envoys to the Mohawk lands to protect the precarious peace. Mohawk attitudes toward
7552-404: The Iroquois turned their forces on the Neutral Nations on the north shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario, the Susquehannocks, their southern neighbor. Then they destroyed other Iroquoian-language tribes, including the Erie , to the west, in 1654, over competition for the fur trade. Then they destroyed the Mohicans . After their victories, they reigned supreme in an area from the Mississippi River to
7680-485: The Iroquois were a powerful factor in North American colonial policy. Alliance with the Iroquois offered political and strategic advantages to the European powers, but the Iroquois preserved considerable independence. Some of their people settled in mission villages along the St. Lawrence River , becoming more closely tied to the French. While they participated in French-led raids on Dutch and English colonial settlements, where some Mohawk and other Iroquois settled, in general
7808-447: The Jesuits' superior system of publicizing material, his words and Kateri's fame were said to reach Jesuits in China and their converts. As people believed in her healing powers, some collected earth from her gravesite and wore it in bags as a relic. One woman said she was saved from pneumonia ( grande maladie du rhume ); she gave the pendant to her husband, who was healed from his disease. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI approved
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#17330935802247936-457: The League, giving rise to the many historic references to "Five Nations of the Iroquois". With the addition of the southern Tuscarora in the 18th century, these original five tribes still compose the Haudenosaunee in the early 21st century: the Mohawk , Onondaga , Oneida , Cayuga , and Seneca . According to legend, an evil Onondaga chieftain named Tadodaho was the last converted to the ways of peace by The Great Peacemaker and Hiawatha. He
8064-428: The Lower St. Lawrence River region. The Mi'kmaq named the last-conquered land Gespedeg or "last land", from which the French derived Gaspé . The "Kwedech" are generally considered to have been Iroquois, specifically the Mohawk ; their expulsion from Gaspé by the Mi'kmaq has been estimated as occurring c. 1535–1600. Around 1535, Jacques Cartier reported Iroquoian-speaking groups on the Gaspé peninsula and along
8192-411: The Mohawk Thanksgiving Address , or Ohén꞉ton Karihwatékwen, "The words before all else." Every morning, teachers and students gather in the hallway to recite the Thanksgiving Address in Mohawk. An adult immersion program was also created in 1985 to address the issue of intergenerational fluency decline of the Mohawk language. Kanatsiohareke (Gah-nah-jo-ha-lay-gay), meaning "Place of the clean pot",
8320-440: The Mohawk Valley and elsewhere and relocate to the northern lands retained by the British. The Crown gave them land in compensation for the five million acres they had lost in the south, but it was not equivalent to earlier territory. Modern scholars of the Iroquois distinguish between the League and the Confederacy. According to this interpretation, the Iroquois League refers to the ceremonial and cultural institution embodied in
8448-404: The Mohawk proposition: the noun, the predicate, and the particle. Mohawk words can be composed of many morphemes. What is expressed in English in many words can often be expressed by just one Mohawk word, a phenomenon known as polysynthesis . Nouns are given the following form in Mohawk: Noun prefixes give information relating to gender, animacy, number and person, and identify the word as
8576-494: The People of Kan-ee-en Ka are often referred to as Mohawks . The Dutch also referred to the Mohawk as Egils or Maquas . The French adapted those terms as Aigniers or Maquis , or called them by the generic Iroquois . The Mohawks were the largest and most powerful of the original Five Nations , controlling a vast area of land on the eastern frontier of the Iroquois Confederacy. The North Country and Adirondack region of present-day Upstate New York would have constituted
8704-399: The St. Lawrence River, east to Montreal and the Hudson River , and south into what is today northwestern Pennsylvania. At its peak around 1700, Iroquois power extended from what is today New York State, north into present-day Ontario and Quebec along the lower Great Lakes – upper St. Lawrence , and south on both sides of the Allegheny Mountains into present-day Virginia and Kentucky and into
8832-412: The St. Lawrence River. Archeologists and anthropologists have defined the St. Lawrence Iroquoians as a distinct and separate group (and possibly several discrete groups), living in the villages of Hochelaga and others nearby (near present-day Montreal), which had been visited by Cartier. By 1608, when Samuel de Champlain visited the area, that part of the St. Lawrence River valley had no settlements, but
8960-509: The Tuscarora to becoming accepted as the sixth nation in the confederacy in 1722; the Iroquois become known afterwards as the Six Nations. Other independent Iroquoian-speaking peoples, such as the Erie , Susquehannock , Huron (Wendat) and Wyandot , lived at various times along the St. Lawrence River , and around the Great Lakes . In the American Southeast, the Cherokee were an Iroquoian-language people who had migrated to that area centuries before European contact. None of these were part of
9088-480: The adoption of corn as a staple crop. Archaeologist Dean Snow argues that the archaeological evidence does not support a date earlier than 1450. He has said that recent claims for a much earlier date "may be for contemporary political purposes". Other scholars note that anthropological researchers consulted only male informants, thus losing the half of the historical story told in the distinct oral traditions of women. For this reason, origin tales tend to emphasize
9216-471: The age of 19, on Easter Sunday , April 18, 1676. Tekakwitha was renamed "Catherine" after St. Catherine of Siena (Kateri was the Mohawk form of the name). She remained in Caughnawauga for another six months. Some Mohawks opposed her conversion and accused her of sorcery. Other members of her village, stoned, threatened, and harassed her. Tekakwitha fled her home and travelled 200 miles to St. Francis Xavier,
9344-406: The canonization of Tekakwitha. There are some traditionalist Mohawk who feel her story was tied into the tragedies of colonization that deeply affected the people of Kahnawake . Despite this dark past, Kateri herself is generally respected among Catholic and traditionalist Mohawk alike. Much of the debate surrounding Kateri's canonization is built upon the idea that it was done to bolster the image of
9472-404: The circumstances dictated, creating a measured instability that only they could navigate. Their guiding principle was to avoid becoming attached to any single colony, which would restrict their options and risk exposure to external manipulation." Beginning in 1609, the League engaged in the decades-long Beaver Wars against the French, their Huron allies, and other neighboring tribes, including
9600-484: The community is to try to preserve traditional values, culture, language and lifestyles in the guidance of the Kaienerekowa (Great Law of Peace). Kanatsiohareke, Inc. is a non-profit organization under IRS code 501c3. In 2006, over 600 people were reported to speak the language in Canada, many of them elderly. Kahnawake is located at a metropolitan location, near central Montreal , Quebec , Canada. As Kahnawake
9728-598: The confederacy did not speak for all five tribes, which continued to act independently and form their own war bands. Around 1678, the council began to exert more power in negotiations with the colonial governments of Pennsylvania and New York, and the Iroquois became very adroit at diplomacy, playing off the French against the British as individual tribes had earlier played the Swedes, Dutch, and English. Iroquoian-language peoples were involved in warfare and trading with nearby members of
9856-429: The death of her spiritual daughter, she looked up to see Catherine "kneeling at the foot" of her mattress, "holding a wooden cross that shone like the sun." Marie-Thérèse reported that she was awakened at night by a knocking on her wall, and a voice asked if she were awake, adding, "I've come to say good-bye; I'm on my way to heaven." Marie-Thérèse went outside but saw no one; she heard a voice murmur, "Adieu, Adieu, go tell
9984-424: The defeat by the French forces, the Mohawk accepted a peace treaty that required them to tolerate Jesuit missionaries in their villages. The Jesuits established a mission near Auriesville, New York. They spoke of Christianity in terms with which the Mohawk could identify. The Mohawk crossed their river to rebuild Caughnawaga on the north bank, west of the present-day town of Fonda, New York . In 1667, when Tekakwitha
10112-659: The end of a word or before a voiceless sound. /s/ is voiced word initially and between vowels. Mohawk has oral and nasalized vowels ; four vowel qualities occur in oral phonemes /i e a o/ , and two only occur as nasalized vowels ( /ʌ̃ ũ/ ). Vowels can be long or short. Mohawk words have both stress and tone , and it can be classified as a restricted tone system (aka pitch-accent system). Stressed vowels carry one of four tonal configurations, two of which are contour tones : high, low, rising and falling tones. Contour tones only occur in syllables with long vowels. Stress, vowel length and tone are connected in Mohawk phonology. In
10240-498: The extended house", and Hodínöhsö:ni:h , meaning "house builders". The name "Haudenosaunee" first appears in English in Lewis Henry Morgan 's work (1851), where he writes it as Ho-dé-no-sau-nee . The spelling "Hotinnonsionni" is also attested from later in the nineteenth century. An alternative designation, Ganonsyoni , is occasionally encountered as well, from the Mohawk kanǫhsyǫ́·ni "the extended house", or from
10368-573: The father that I'm going to heaven." Chauchetière meanwhile said he saw Catherine at her grave; he said she appeared in "baroque splendor; for two hours he gazed upon her" and "her face lifted toward heaven as if in ecstasy." Chauchetière had a chapel built near Kateri's gravesite. By 1684, pilgrimages had begun to honor her there. The Jesuits turned her bones to dust and set the ashes within the "newly rebuilt mission chapel." This symbolized her presence on earth, and her remains were sometimes used as relics for healing. The first account of Kateri Tekakwitha
10496-625: The first year. The results indicated that teaching towards younger generation have been successful and showed an increase in the ability to speak the language in private settings, as well as an increase in the mixing of Mohawk in English conversations were found. In 2011, there were approximately 3,500 speakers of Mohawk, primarily in Quebec, Ontario and western New York. Immersion (monolingual) classes for young children at Akwesasne and other reserves are helping to train new first-language speakers. The importance of immersion classes among parents grew after
10624-422: The following consonant clusters. All clusters can occur word-medially; those on a tinted background can also occur word-initially. ⟨th⟩ and ⟨sh⟩ are pronounced as consonant clusters, not single sounds like in English thing and she . The consonants /k/, /t/ and the clusters /ts kw/ are pronounced voiced before any voiced sound (i.e. a vowel or /j/ ). They are voiceless at
10752-607: The game's main character, the half-Mohawk, half-Welsh Ratonhnhaké꞉ton , also called Connor, and members of his native Kanièn꞉ke village around the times of the American Revolution . Ratonhnhaké꞉ton was voiced and modelled by Crow actor Noah Bulaagawish Watts . Hiawatha , the leader of the Iroquoian civilization in Sid Meier's Civilization V , voiced by Kanentokon Hemlock, speaks modern Mohawk. The stories of Mohawk language learners are also chronicled in 'Raising The Words',
10880-556: The greater part of the Mohawk-speaking area lasting until the end of the 18th century. The Mohawk language is currently classified as threatened, and the number of native speakers has continually declined over the past several years. Mohawk has the largest number of speakers among the Northern Iroquoian languages, and today it is the only one with more than a thousand remaining speakers. At Akwesasne , residents have founded
11008-566: The indigenous nations sometimes tried to remain neutral in the various colonial frontier wars, some also allied with Europeans, as in the French and Indian War , the North American front of the Seven Years' War. The Six Nations were split in their alliances between the French and British in that war. In Reflections in Bullough's Pond , historian Diana Muir argues that the pre-contact Iroquois were an imperialist, expansionist culture whose cultivation of
11136-603: The language is represented, and the clusters /ts(i)/ , /tj/ , and /ky/ are written as pronounced in each community. The orthography matches the phonological analysis as above except: The low-macron accent is not a part of standard orthography and is not used in the Central or Eastern dialects. In standard orthography, ⟨h⟩ is written before ⟨n⟩ to create the [en] or [on] : kehnhó꞉tons 'I am closing it'. Mohawk words tend to be longer on average than words in English, primarily because they consist of
11264-709: The major Mohawk territories since the eighteenth century. The pronunciation of /r/ and several consonant clusters may differ in the dialects. The phoneme inventory of Mohawk is as follows (using the International Phonetic Alphabet ). An interesting feature of Mohawk (and Iroquoian) phonology is that there are no labials (m, p, b, f, v), except in a few adoptions from French and English, where [m] and [p] appear (e.g., mátsis "matches" and aplám "Abraham"); these sounds are late additions to Mohawk phonology and were introduced after widespread European contact. The Central ( Ahkwesáhsne ) dialect has
11392-499: The migration of a majority to Canada, the Iroquois remaining in New York were required to live mostly on reservations. In 1784, a total of 6,000 Iroquois faced 240,000 New Yorkers, with land-hungry New Englanders poised to migrate west. "Oneidas alone, who were only 600 strong, owned six million acres, or about 2.4 million hectares. Iroquoia was a land rush waiting to happen." By the War of 1812 ,
11520-512: The origin. A more modern etymology was advocated by Gordon M. Day in 1968, elaborating upon Charles Arnaud from 1880. Arnaud had claimed that the word came from Montagnais irnokué , meaning "terrible man", via the reduced form irokue . Day proposed a hypothetical Montagnais phrase irno kwédač , meaning "a man, an Iroquois", as the origin of this term. For the first element irno , Day cites cognates from other attested Montagnais dialects: irinou , iriniȣ , and ilnu ; and for
11648-476: The parents said they prayed to Tekakwitha for divine intercession , as did their family and friends, and an extended network contacted through their son's classmates. Sister Kateri Mitchell visited the boy's bedside and placed a relic of Tekakwitha, a bone fragment, against his body and prayed together with his parents. The next day, the infection stopped its progression. Mohawk scholar Orenda Boucher noted that, in her opinion, there were "mixed feelings" surrounding
11776-563: The passage of Bill 101 , and in 1979 the Mohawk Survival School was established to facilitate language training at the high school level. Kahnawake and Kanatsiohareke offer immersion classes for adults. In the 2016 Canadian census, 875 people said Mohawk was their only mother tongue. Mohawk dialogue features prominently in Ubisoft Montreal 's 2012 action-adventure open world video game Assassin's Creed III , through
11904-480: The peace soured while the Jesuits were traveling, and their warriors attacked the party en route. The missionaries were taken to Ossernenon village, Kanienkeh (Mohawk Nation) (near present-day Auriesville , New York), where the moderate Turtle and Wolf clans recommended setting them free, but angry members of the Bear clan killed Jean de Lalande and Isaac Jogues on October 18, 1646. The Catholic Church has commemorated
12032-422: The prefix ga- . Noun roots are similar to nouns in English in that the noun root in Mohawk and the noun in English have similar meanings. (Caughnawaha) 5) –eri- "heart" 6) –hi- "river" 7) –itshat- "cloud" These noun roots are bare. There is no information other than the noun root itself. Morphemes cannot occur individually. That is, to be well-formed and grammatical, -eri- needs pronominal prefixes, or
12160-577: The presence of others, Tekakwitha told him her story and her desire to become a Christian. She started studying the catechism with him. In his journal, Lamberville wrote about Tekakwitha in the years after her death. This text described her before she was baptized as a mild-mannered girl. Lamberville also stated that Kateri did everything she could to stay holy in a secular society, which often caused minor conflicts with her longhouse residents. The journal, however, does not mention violence toward Kateri, while other sources do. Lamberville baptized Tekakwitha at
12288-403: The prominent tribe in eastern New York.) After Catherine's arrival, she shared the longhouse of her older sister and her husband. She would have known other people in the longhouse who had migrated from their former village of Gandaouagué ( Caughnawaga ). Her mother's close friend, Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo, was clan matron of the longhouse. Anastasia and other Mohawk women introduced Tekakwitha to
12416-616: The region. These tribes migrated to regions around the Mississippi River and the Piedmont regions of the east coast. Other Iroquoian-language peoples, including the populous Wyandot (Huron) , with related social organization and cultures, became extinct as tribes as a result of disease and war. They did not join the League when invited and were much reduced after the Beaver Wars and high mortality from Eurasian infectious diseases. While
12544-456: The regular practices of Christianity. This was normal for the women in the village, with many of the missionaries being preoccupied with other religious tasks. Pierre Cholenec reported that "all the Iroquois who come here and then become Christians owe their conversion mainly to the zeal of their relatives". Kahnawake was a village set up like normal Haudenosaunee villages, moving from location to location after running out of resources. The village
12672-470: The religious conversion of the natives. When it began, the natives built their traditional longhouses for residences. They also built a longhouse to be used as a chapel by the Jesuits. As a missionary settlement, Kahnawake was at risk of being attacked by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy members who had not converted to Catholicism. (While it attracted other Haudenosaunee, it was predominantly Mohawk,
12800-561: The root can be incorporated into a predicate phrase. Nominal suffixes are not necessary for a well-formed noun phrase. The suffixes give information relating to location and attributes. For example: Locative Suffix: Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( / ˈ ɪr ə k w ɔɪ , - k w ɑː / IRR -ə-kwoy, -kwah ), also known as the Five Nations , and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by
12928-412: The same year, in 1677. Chauchetière came to believe that Tekakwitha was a saint. In his biography of Kateri, he stressed her "charity, industry, purity, and fortitude." In contrast, Cholenec stressed her virginity, perhaps to counter colonial stereotypes characterizing Indian women as promiscuous. Around Holy Week of 1680, friends noted that Tekakwitha's health was failing. When people knew she had but
13056-492: The second element kwédač , he suggests a relation to kouetakiou , kȣetat-chiȣin , and goéṭètjg – names used by neighboring Algonquian tribes to refer to the Iroquois, Huron, and Laurentian peoples. The Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America attests the origin of Iroquois to Iroqu , Algonquian for "rattlesnake". The French encountered the Algonquian-speaking tribes first, and would have learned
13184-447: The second miracle needed for Kateri's canonization. The authorized miracle dates from 2006, when a young boy in Washington state survived a severe flesh-eating bacterium. Doctors had been unable to stop the disease's progress by surgery and advised his parents he was likely to die. The boy received the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick from a Catholic priest. As the boy is half Lummi Indian ,
13312-428: The standard spelling, a colon is placed after a vowel to lengthen it. There are 4 tones: mid, high, mid-low falling and mid-high rising, the latter two appear on long vowels (marked as V:). Mohawk orthography uses the following letters: ⟨a e h i k n o r s t w y⟩ along with ⟨’⟩ and ⟨꞉⟩ . The orthography was standardized in 1993. The standard allows for some variation of how
13440-513: The strongest aversion to marriage." Tekakwitha grew up in a period of upheaval, as the Mohawk interacted with French and Dutch colonists, who were competing in the lucrative fur trade. Trying to make inroads in Iroquois territory, the French attacked the Mohawk in present-day central New York in 1666. After driving the people from their homes, the French burned the three Mohawk villages. Tekakwitha, around ten years old, fled with her new family. After
13568-457: The time Tekakwitha turned 17, around 1673, her adoptive mother and aunt tried to arrange her marriage to a young Mohawk man. Tekakwitha fled the cabin and hid in a nearby field and continued to resist marriage. Eventually, her aunts gave up their efforts to get her to marry. In the spring of 1674, at age eighteen, Tekakwitha met the Jesuit priest Jacques de Lamberville, who was visiting the village. In
13696-422: The time as [irokwe] or [irokwɛ]. Competing theories have been proposed for this term's origin, but none have gained widespread acceptance. By 1978 Ives Goddard wrote: "No such form is attested in any Indian language as a name for any Iroquoian group, and the ultimate origin and meaning of the name are unknown." Jesuit priest and missionary Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix wrote in 1744: The name Iroquois
13824-530: The time, and many other people from her tribe opposed her conversion. The Jesuits' account of Tekakwitha said that she was a modest girl who avoided social gatherings and covered her head because of the scars. She became skilled at traditional women's arts like making clothing, weaving mats, and preparing food. As was the custom, she was pressured to think about marriage around age thirteen, but she refused. When speaking to her confessor, she stated, "I can have no spouse but Jesus." She followed by proclaiming, "I have
13952-618: The two men Deganawidah and Hiawatha , while the woman Jigonsaseh , who plays a prominent role in the female tradition, remains largely unknown. The founders of League are traditionally held to be Dekanawida the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonhsasee the Mother of Nations, whose home acted as a sort of United Nations. They brought the Peacemaker's Great Law of Peace to the squabbling Iroquoian nations who were fighting, raiding, and feuding with each other and with other tribes, both Algonkian and Iroquoian . Five nations originally joined in
14080-641: The weakened tribe. According to one theory of early Iroquois history, after becoming united in the League, the Iroquois invaded the Ohio River Valley in the territories that would become the eastern Ohio Country down as far as present-day Kentucky to seek additional hunting grounds. They displaced about 1,200 Siouan -speaking tribepeople of the Ohio River valley, such as the Quapaw (Akansea), Ofo ( Mosopelea ), and Tutelo and other closely related tribes out of
14208-564: The wounded, bury the dead, and carry food and water. Later in 1669, the Haudenosaunee Feast of the Dead was convened at Caughnawaga. The remains of Tekakwitha's parents, along with others, were to be part of the ceremony. Father Pierron criticized the Feast of the Dead, but the assembled Haudenosaunee ordered him to be silent. Afterwards, however, they relented and promised to give up the feast. By
14336-505: Was 11 years old, she met the Jesuit missionaries Jacques Frémin, Jacques Bruyas, and Jean Pierron , who had come to the village. Her uncle opposed any contact with them because he did not want her to convert to Christianity. One of his older daughters had already become Catholic. In the summer of 1669, several hundred Mohican warriors, advancing from the east, launched an attack on Caughnawaga. Tekakwitha, at that point around 13 years old, joined other girls to help priest Jean Pierron tend to
14464-502: Was an important figure of his generation in recounting versions of Iroquois history in epics on the Peacemaker . Notable women historians among the Iroquois emerged in the following decades, including Laura "Minnie" Kellogg (Oneida, 1880–1949) and Alice Lee Jemison (Seneca, 1901–1964). The Iroquois League was established prior to European contact , with the banding together of five of the many Iroquoian peoples who had emerged south of
14592-408: Was beatified as on June 22, 1980, by Pope John Paul II . In 2006, a young boy from Whatcom County in Washington state, Jake Finkbonner, was lying near death due to flesh-eating bacteria. According to the parents, the doctors believed he was incurable. Being of Lummi descent, the boy's parents knew about Kateri Tekakwitha and prayed to her. Jake survived the ordeal and made a full recovery. His healing
14720-541: Was born around 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon in northeastern New York state. She was the daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Kahenta, an Algonquin woman, who had been captured in a raid and then adopted and assimilated into the tribe. Kahenta had been baptized Catholic and educated by French missionaries in Trois-Rivières , east of Montreal. Mohawk warriors captured her and took her to their homeland. Kahenta eventually married Kenneronkwa. Tekakwitha
14848-413: Was cause for controversy for many of the priests in their community citing her already poor health. Tekakwitha pushed back against these concerns saying, "I will willingly abandon this miserable body to hunger and suffering, provided that my soul may have its ordinary nourishment." Around this time she also began a friendship with another woman named Marie Thérèse Tegaianguenta. The two of them tried to start
14976-453: Was controlled by the Mohawk as a hunting ground. The fate of the Iroquoian people that Cartier encountered remains a mystery, and all that can be stated for certain is when Champlain arrived, they were gone. On the Gaspé peninsula, Champlain encountered Algonquian-speaking groups. The precise identity of any of these groups is still debated. On July 29, 1609, Champlain assisted his allies in defeating
15104-554: Was initiated by United States Catholics at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1885, followed by Canadian Catholics. Some 906 Native Americans signed 27 letters in the US and Canada urging her canonization. Her spiritual writings were approved by theologians on July 8, 1936, and her cause was formally opened on 19 May 1939, granting her the title of Servant of God . On January 3, 1943, Pope Pius XII declared her venerable . She
15232-433: Was inspired by Kateri's habit of placing small wooden crosses throughout the woods. There are numerous statues of Kateri, among them are: Joseph Kellogg was a Protestant child captured by Natives in the eighteenth century and eventually returned to his home. Twelve months later, he caught smallpox. The Jesuits helped treat him, but he was not recovering. They had relics from Tekakwitha's grave but did not want to use them on
15360-468: Was not published until 1715. Because of Tekakwitha's unique path to chastity , she is often referred to as a lily , a traditional symbol of purity. Religious images of Tekakwitha are often decorated with a lily and cross, with feathers or turtle as cultural accessories alluding to her Native American birth. Colloquial epithets for Tekakwitha are The Lily of the Mohawks (most notable), the Mohawk Maiden ,
15488-504: Was offered the position as the titular chair of the League's Council, representing the unity of all nations of the League. This is said to have occurred at Onondaga Lake near present-day Syracuse, New York . The title Tadodaho is still used for the League's chair, the fiftieth chief who sits with the Onondaga in council. The Iroquois subsequently created a highly egalitarian society. One British colonial administrator declared in 1749 that
15616-418: Was originally not wholly French, but with northward migration towards Canada started by the Five Nations , the village started to gain more native members. The Five Nations all happened to start migrating north around the same time, without any communication between them. In Kahnawake, there was representation from multiple tribes, and when the French came there were people from different ethnicities. The village
15744-478: Was recognized by New France , and given autonomy to deal with problems that would arise. They were also able to form a friendship with New York through this autonomy. There was fur trade in Kahnawake. The division between the French Church and the natives was clear-cut in the village; there were few interactions between the two. Kahnawake was drawn into a war among the different tribes that lasted around two and
15872-536: Was scarred. She converted to Catholicism at age 19. She took a vow of perpetual virginity, left her village, and moved for the remaining five years of her life to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake , just south of Montreal . She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica on 21 October 2012. Tekakwitha is the given name she received by her Mohawk people. It translates to "She who bumps into things." She
16000-537: Was soon adopted and went to live with her father's sister and her husband, a chief of the Turtle Clan. At age 11, Tekakwitha was visited by three members of the Society of Jesus. Tekakwitha was greatly impressed by these Jesuits, who were likely the first white Christians she had encountered in her life. Tekakwitha began to lead a life, led by the teachings of the three Jesuits. She was staying with her anti-Christian uncle at
16128-701: Was the first of Kateri's miracles accepted by the Vatican. On December 19, 2011, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints certified a second miracle. She was canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. She is the first Native American woman of North America to be canonized by the Catholic Church. In 2022, the Episcopal Church of the United States gave final approval to a feast dedicated to Kateri on 17 April on
16256-568: Was the first of their two children. A brother followed. Tekakwitha's original village was highly diverse. The Mohawk were absorbing many captured natives of other tribes, particularly their competitors, the Huron , to replace people who died from warfare or diseases. When Tekakwitha was around four years old, her baby brother and both of her parents died of smallpox. Tekakwitha survived, but suffered from facial scars and impaired eyesight. Due to her scars, she wore head covering and cloths to cover them. She
16384-553: Was used throughout in the Marvel Studios animated series What If...? , in the season 2 episode " What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World? ", where they introduce an original Mohawk superhero named Kahhori. Mohawk has three major dialects: Western ( Ohswé:ken and Kenhté:ke ), Central ( Ahkwesáhsne ), and Eastern ( Kahnawà꞉ke and Kanehsatà꞉ke ); the differences between them are largely phonological. These are related to
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