Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Say What? Native Americans STILL in Gowanus?

The name Gowanus is derived from the name of a local Native American chief from the indigenous Canarsie tribes. To my knowledge, the Canarsie do not have any communities to speak of in the area. But another Native American tribe may. From the Middletown Press:

"“To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey” tells the personal story of Tarbell, who is a Mohawk herself, as she explores her roots and traces the connections of her family to the Mohawk community in Brooklyn. The stories of the Kahnawake Mohawk women who lived in the North Gowanus section are rarely heard, but Tarbell would like to change all that."

Anybody out there know anything about the Mohawk Community in Brooklyn or its location? According to the ever reliable Wikipedia, a large community of Mohawks worked on construction projects in the early part of the 20th century, which resulted in a settlement in somewhere in Brooklyn called "Little Caughnawaga", which Ms. Tarbell's film documents. I will look forward to watching it.

2 comments:

  1. Seriously? You've NOT heard of the High Iron Mohawks?
    Joseph Mitchell wrote an article in the New Yorker about them...........they lived in Gowanus....you could look it up.

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  2. Beg pardon-"High Steel Mohawks"
    http://www.kevinbaker.info/e_ag_saiw.html

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