Satsisowah Conference: An Affirmation of the Life of John Mohawk

There is a saying that we never quite appreciate what we have until it is gone.  That is as true of our friends and relatives as it is of our material possessions.  The passing of time compels changes, which means we lose things and people as we journey through life. But it is important to stop, rest, reflect and look back; to remember the trail.

From March 28-30 students and faculty from the University of Buffalo organized an event which brought together dozens of community leaders to recall the importance of the late John Mohawk-Satsisowah on their respective lives.  John was a scholar, farmer, administrator, peacemaker, writer and philosopher, perhaps the most inquisitive and intelligent Iroquois intellectual of the 20th century.  He was on par with Arthur C. Parker, JNB Hewitt and Ely Parker in terms of his influence on Iroquois scholarship while his activism on the international front was as important as Levi General-Deskaheh or Leon Shenandoah.

The conference was meant to summarize John’s life and his work on behalf of indigenous people.  The dozens of sessions involved other Iroquois intellectuals such as Kenneth Deer, Oren Lyons, Paul Williams, Dan Longboat, Rick Hill and many more. It attracted a new generation of Iroquois students who came under John’s wing.  It was simply impossible to attend all of the lectures given John’s enormous creativity during the six decades he walked among us.

The attendees were told of John’s work to preserve indigenous strains of corn while he was designing and administering the American Studies Department at Buffalo.  His books were cited as laying the foundation for a new wave of Iroquois scholarship, one in which Native students defined our culture and history rather than cede this to others. But John was hardly an isolated academic.  His mind was ever restless as he visited with his Seneca elders, learning more about his heritage while discovering something new to him at every turn.

John also spent a number of years at Akwesasne, working for the Mohawk Nation Council as the editor of Akwesasne Notes from 1977-1984.  While here he developed strategies whereby the Iroquois secured a permanent presence among the nations of the world and fulfilled, in part, the dream of Deskaheh.  John streamlined Notes and presented its readers with in depth reporting about the concerns and events of indigenous peoples worldwide.  He was instrumental in creating the movement among the planet’s native peoples to speak in concert.  Without him, it is doubtful the United Nations would have ever given us a voice or endorsed the International Declaration of Indigenous Rights.

The longhouse people at Akwesasne also remember John for his great singing abilities. He could pick up the water drum and sing verse after verse of ceremonial and social songs.  He revived the Drum Dance and taught dozens of young Mohawks the old and new women’s dance chants. His teachings were always characterized by his great laugh and his love of gentle easing.  

As pointed out during the conference John was important to Mohawk history for another reason.  In the summer of 1990 he risked his reputation and his life to serve as a peacemaker during the crisis at Kanehsatake and Kahnawake. He was threatened, verbally abused and condemned by some but seen as a hero by most. He convinced the true leaders of both communities to remove the barricades and put away the weapons.  He applied every skill he knew to reduce the threat of violence and alleviate the fears of the people. He has nothing to gain personally but his tranquility  in the face of enormous hostile energy was almost superhuman.  He succeeded in bringing about peace and for that many Mohawks are now alive.

Oren Lyons of Onondaga noted John’s work with the United Nations while the prominent Native lawyer Tim Coulter recalled how he was an essential part of the Indian Law Resource Center.  Professor Don Grinde mentioned his work to reveal the controversial “Doctrine of Discovery” and Suzan Shown Harjo recalled how he effected people on a deeply personal level.  Rick Hill enhanced John as a human being through his stories, describing John as a family man of great compassion but not without his fun times.

It was an exceptional gathering.  At its conclusion one thing was crystal clear: Satsisowah had take his time and used it with extraordinary power for the benefit of all Onkwehonwe. No Iroquois now alive has been unaffected by this great mind.