Mohawk Warrior Society

Part of a series on
Indigenous rights
Rights
Governmental organizations
United Nations initiatives
International Treaties
NGOs and political groups
Issues
Countries
Category

The Rotisken’rakéhte,[2] also known as the Mohawk Warrior Society (Mohawk: Rotisken’rakéhte) and the Kahnawake Warrior Society, is a Mohawk group united around the care, preservation and defence of the Mohawk people and their land.[1][3] Responsibilities and actions range from chopping wood for elder community members to erecting roadblocks or initiating evictions, and occupations[1].[4]

Rotisken’rakéhte represent one part of decentralized indigenous governance under the Great Law of Peace (Mohawk: Kaianere’kó:wa) and similar groups to the Mohawk Warrior Society exist for all peoples of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Rather than formal organization the group represents the duties of Mohawk men within traditional society and as practitioners of the Great Law of peace. The current form of the society was rekindled in the late 1960's after decades of colonial assimilation efforts disrupted traditional Mohawk methods of governance and organization[3]. It gained notoriety in 1973 when they, along with American Indian Movement activists, held a standoff with the Quebec Provincial Police at Kahnawake, and another in Kanehsatake in 1990.[4] The members of this society are known as Warriors.

Flag

The Mohawk Warrior Flag was designed by Karoniaktajeh Louis Hall in 1974. Hall was an artist, writer, and activist from Kahnawake.[5] It was initially called the "unity flag" or "Indian flag", depicting an Indigenous man with long hair over top a yellow sunburst and red banner. This was changed in the 1980's with the man being replaced with a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) warrior.[5] The flag was highlighted in the media during the Oka Crisis and became a symbol of resistance for Kanien’kehá:ka people.[5]

  • Mohawk Warrior Society flag at Beyond NoDAPL March on Washington, DC.
  • NoDAPL March on Washington, DC.
  • Brother of Leonard Peltier speaking at Standing Rock and Beyond NoDAPL March on Washington, DC.
  • Beyond NoDAPL March on Washington, DC.

References

  1. ^ a b c "HAUDENOSAUNEE - MOHAWK - ONEIDA - ONONDAGA - CAYUGA - SENECA - TUSCARORA- Kahnawake Branch Of The Mohawk Nation Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy". www.kahnawakelonghouse.com. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  2. ^ Cohen, Stanley L. (September 19, 2016). "The Road from Standing Rock to Gaza is a Straight Line". Caged but undaunted. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Hall, Louis Karoniaktajeh (2023). The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival. Kahentinetha Rotiskarewake, Philippe Blouin, Matt Peterson, Malek Rasamny (1st ed.). Oakland: PM Press. pp. 141–150. ISBN 978-1-62963-941-3.
  4. ^ a b UTA Edco. Upping the Anti #2. UTA Publications. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-0-9682704-7-9.
  5. ^ a b c Deer, Jessica (July 11, 2020). "Oka Crisis: The legacy of the warrior flag". CBC News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.