News stories tagged with "mohawk"

(12/26/11) Last week, the Vatican declared that a Washington state boy's recovery from a deadly and debilitating illness was a miracle. The Pope signed documents attributing 11-year-old Jake Finkbonner's survival to the intercession of Kateri Tekakwitha. She was a 17th century Mohawk woman who lived in what is now Upstate New York and who converted to Catholicism.

The Pope's decision moves Kateri one step closer to full sainthood. Last week, Bishop Terry LaValley, head of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, issued a statement saying "we eagerly await that day when the church declares that she is numbered among the saints in heaven."

Back in April, NPR's religion corrrespondent, Barbara Bradley-Hagerty, examined the process by which the Vatican decides which miracles are authentic.

(08/12/11) At the Akwesasne Freedom School on the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation near Massena, kids spend their whole day, including recess, completely immersed in the Mohawk language. Nora Flaherty has more. more

(08/11/11) Seneca Nation president Robert Odawi Porter is using an historic piece of cloth to deliver a message to New York State about native sovereignty. He said payment of the cloth and a small sum according to an 18th century treaty symbolizes native nations' freedom from state taxation and right to land.

The history lesson came on the same day that Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he is considering legalizing gambling in New York. That would have a profound effect on native nations and tribes around the state who rely on their casinos for revenue. Martha Foley and Dave Bullard report.

(08/10/11) Two years after New York State prison officials closed Camp Gabriels, a Mohawk writer and activist wants to reopen the Adirondack facility as an education center and accredited campus with ties to Syracuse University.

Doug George announced last week at a meeting in Ticonderoga that he is working with Native American leaders, state officials and with other educators to develop the program. He hopes to attract students interested in learning about Native culture, language and heritage.

As Brian Mann reports, the proposal has been on the drawing board for more than a year. But key questions remain. more

(08/08/11) This week, we're going to take a look around Indian Country in New York. Taxing native smoke shops have grabbed headlines lately. But we're going to look deeper at some of the political, economic, and social trends shaping New York's native tribes and nations.

Today, the Seneca Nation, south of Buffalo. Casinos and tobacco sales have turned it from an empoverished territory to one of the top ten employer in western New York.

The Nation's new president, Robert Odawi Porter, has taken a lead role in negotiating native issues with the Cuomo Administration.

Porter wants the Senecas to go beyond smoke shops and slot machines. He's a Harvard-educated lawyer and academic. And he wants to recast one of the darkest moments of the Seneca people into an economic boon. David Sommerstein has this profile. more

(05/06/11) The hockey and basketball playoffs are at full throttle. But there's another professional sport deep in the title series - the national lacrosse league. Tomorrow, the Buffalo Bandits, one of the league's winningest franchises, takes on the Toronto Rock in the semifinals. The Bandits are led by goalie Mike Thompson, a Mohawk who lives in Akwesasne. Thompson's had an incredible year and an incredible career, having won both major North American lacrosse championships. David Sommerstein visited him at home and has this profile.

(12/10/10) Four years ago, a tobacco company in Akwesasne, Jacobs Manufacturing, started a native fashion show to raise money for the local hat and mitten fund.

The "Nations Best Next Top Model Show" has grown into a big attraction. More than a thousand fans filled the Jacobs plant on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation last Saturday night. Grammy-award winner Joanne Shenandoah performed.

Models from Iroquois communities showed off the work of ten Mohawk designers. The fashions included traditional regalia, cocktail and casual wear, and furs.

Joni Sarah White, an Akwesasne artist, joined models and designers at last weekend's Nations Best Next Top Models Show in Akwesasne. Winning model Chatnie Herne won a one-year contract with an Ottawa modeling agency.
Producer Randi Rourke Barreiro was backstage and by the runway for today's Heard Up North. more

(11/18/10) The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe says it's "at an impasse" in talks with New York over sharing the revenue from the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino near Massena. The tribe says it's paid more than $50 million to the state, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, and four north Country towns since 2005 under the Mohawks' gaming compact.

But those payments stopped last month when the tribe claimed New York violated an exclusivity clause in the compact by allowing slot machines on a little native territory in Clinton County. David Sommerstein reports. more

(10/22/10) Jake Swamp, Mohawk chief and spiritual leader - planter of peace trees -- died unexpectedly a week ago. He was a public face of traditional Mohawks, opening ceremonies with a prayer in the Mohawk language, and traveling the world to teach about the teachings and issues of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee.

Swamp founded the Tree of Peace Society almost 30 years ago to recover and pass along Mohawk and other tribal culture and philosophy.

We remembered Jake Swamp this morning, with a 2002 archive story set at the society's center in western St. Lawrence County. Martha Foley has more.

(10/22/10) Mohawk chief and spiritual leader Jake Swamp founded the Tree of Peace Society almost 30 years ago to recover and pass along Mohawk and other tribal culture and philosophy.

On the society's website there's a quote that reads:
"We plant the tree of peace. Under its roots we have buried the weapons of war. Hatred, greed and jealousy will be cast aside to make room for positive teachings."

One of these teachings comes from the Mohawk prophet Kanya-da-LEE-oh, or "handsome lake." Here's his story, as told by Jake Swamp.