Sotsisowah John Mohawk was Seneca Nation Turtle (ha'no:wa:h) Clan, born on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation Ga’dagesgeo’, located in western New York State. Mohawk was a major visionary of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of Nations who played a singularly important role in fashioning the intellectual bridge of the traditional Indian movement toward the national and international community. Firmly based in the traditional Seneca Longhouse, he was a practitioner and master singer and orator. He was a writer, journalist, researcher, and lecturer. A specialist in the field of culture and community economic development and an activist and commentator on the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples, Mohawk was a resolute traditionalist, social activist, and negotiator in local and international conflicts.
