Mohawks and the Dutch in the Mohawk Valley

From the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site

This talk from 2021 takes a close look at relations between the Mohawk People and the Dutch settlers who arrived at their borders in the early 1600’s. Focusing on experiences in the Mohawk Valley, it looks at Mohawk and Dutch trade relations, their alliance in war and peacemaking, some family connections and other lasting impacts of their partnership. We will also discuss the ongoing legacy of those relations beyond the end of the Dutch colonial era, and the Mohawks’ return to the Valley today.

Paul Gorgen is a writer and researcher from the Mohawk Valley. Recently retired from IBM, he is currently writing about Colonial and Indigenous history in the Valley, drawing on his own family history back to the Mohawk people and the early Dutch and German immigrants to the region. He is studying the Mohawk Language and serves on the board of directors at Kanatsiohareke Mohawk Community in Fonda NY, currently as board Secretary. Recent publications include several articles on the Mohawks and the Palatine Germans, including one in Plotzlich Da, a book on German emigration history published by the Deutches Auswanderhaus Museum in Bremerhaven, Germany. His article on Clarissa Putman and Molly Brant appeared in the journal Iroquoia in 2017, and his paper on Mohawk relations with the Dutch in the Mohawk Valley, the subject of this talk, was published this year as a chapter in the book Dutch and Indigenous Communities in Seventeenth-Century Northeastern North America by SUNY Press.

Kanatsiohareke Community Website: http://www.mohawkcommunity.com/

Kanatsiohareke on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Kanatsiohareke/

The Conference on Iroquois Research: http://www.iroquoia.org/

Dutch and Indigenous Communities in Seventeenth-Century Northeastern North America: What Archaeology, History, and Indigenous Oral Traditions Teach Us about Their Intercultural Relationships http://www.sunypress.edu/p-7047-dutch…

This program series is offered for free to the public. If you’d like to provide a donation to the Friends of Schoharie Crossing (a 501c3 Non-profit) please visit: https://the-friends-of-schoharie-cros…

For more information about Schoharie Crossing, please email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov or call (518) 829-7516 Visit our Parks Page: https://www.parks.ny.gov/historic-sit… Schoharie Crossing, 129 Schoharie Street – PO Box 140, Fort Hunter, NY 12069