Mohawk skywalkers is a nickname for Mohawk ironworkers and other construction workers who have helped construct buildings and bridges in American and Canadian cities including New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. Mohawk workers have contributed to the construction of iconic structures across North America including the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Sears Tower, the CN Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the United Nations Building, and the Twin Towers. Mohawk volunteers and workers contributed to both rescue efforts at Ground Zero and the rebuilding of the new World Trade Center.[1]
The over 140-year history of Mohawk involvement in ironwork dates to the 1880s, when Mohawk workers from Canada and upstate New York began to travel to major cities across North America. In the 1920s, Mohawk families from Canada formed the ethnic enclave of "Little Caughnawaga" in Brooklyn, as many Mohawk ironworkers were employed in the construction of skyscrapers in Manhattan.[2] According to the Journal of American Indian Education, Mohawk culture values "physical bravery" and the ethic of taking risks for the greater good of the people.[3] In the 21st century, Mohawk workers remain involved in high-rise and bridge construction.[4]
Canada
The Mohawk involvement in ironwork began in 1886, when Mohawk workers were hired to help construct a bridge over the St. Lawrence River. The term "walking iron" is used to refer to Mohawk ironwork and the term "booming out" refers to Mohawks travelling to major urban cities elsewhere for work.[4]
British Columbia
Mohawk ironworkers contributed to the construction of Lions Gate Bridge and the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver.[5]
Ontario
Mohawk ironworkers from the Six Nations of the Grand River contributed to the construction of the CN Tower in Toronto.[6][7]
Quebec
Maja Vodanovic, mayor of the Montreal borough of Lachine, has credited Mohawk workers for their contributions to Canadian construction work, saying that "The Mohawk helped build modern-day Canada."[5]
Mohawk ironworkers contributed to the construction of the Jacques Cartier Bridge and Tour Telus in Montreal.[5]
United States
In 2015, the United States Mint released a $1 coin featuring Mohawk ironworkers to honor Kahnawà:ke Mohawk and Akwesasne Mohawk contributions to "high iron" construction.[3]
California
Mohawk ironworkers participated in the construction of the San Francisco Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.[3]
Illinois
Mohawk ironworkers contributed to the construction of Sears Tower in Chicago.[3]
Michigan
Mohawk ironworkers and their families settled in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood. The Indians of North America Foundation, hosted by Most Holy Trinity Church in Corktown, provided educational and social resources to the neighborhood's Mohawk population.[8]
New York
Mohawk workers began to settle in New York City as early as 1916. The Hell Gate Bridge was one of the first construction projects Mohawk workers participated in.[4][9] Almost every major construction project in New York City since has involved Mohawk workers. Mohawk ironworkers were integral to the shaping of New York City's skyline, contributing to the construction of bridges and high-rise buildings including the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, the George Washington Bridge, the Triborough Bridge, the Flatiron Building, the Waldorf-Astoria, the Henry Hudson Parkway, the RCA Building, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and both the destroyed and rebuilt World Trade Centers.[10]
By the 1920s, a Mohawk enclave of Kahnawà:ke and Akwesasne families had formed in downtown Brooklyn called "Little Caughnawaga". By the 1950s, over 700 Mohawk people lived in Little Caughnawaga. The enclave lasted until the 1970s. While mostly Mohawk, Iroquois and Indigenous workers also lived in the neighborhood.[11]
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has hosted an exhibit on the Mohawk skywalkers titled "Skywalkers: A Portrait of Mohawk Ironworkers at the World Trade Center".[1]
Pennsylvania
In 1925, the Canadian Kahnawake Mohawk worker Paul K. Diablo was arrested in Philadelphia. In a landmark 1927 federal court case, the judge cited the Jay Treaty of 1794 to rule that Mohawks are legally entitled to freely cross the Canada–United States border because the border crosses the Indigenous homeland of the Mohawk people.[12][13]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Skywalkers". National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
- ^ "Indigenous Brooklyn: Ironworking, Little Caughnawaga, and Kanien'kehá:ka Nationhood in the Twentieth Century". Project Muse. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ a b c d "Daring Mohawk Ironworkers Featured in the 2015 Native American $1 Coin Design". United States Mint. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ a b c "Haudenosaunee Guide for Educators" (PDF). National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ a b c "Lachine and Kahnawake plan for a shared future". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "Celebrating the Mohawks who rivet iron to sky". APTN National News. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "Discover Indigenous culture and history along the TransCanada Trail". Government of Ontario. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "Native American History in Detroit". National Park Service. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
- ^ Michaelson, Alan (Spring 2021). "Sky Boys". Aperture: 58–59. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "A Mohawk Trail To the Skyline; Indian Ironworkers Return, Lured by Building Boom". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "How Mohawk ironworkers from Kahnawake helped build New York's skyline". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "MOHAWK IRONWORKERS GIVE RISE TO NYC SKYSCRAPERS". Flatiron Nomad. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "Why the Mohawks are no longer walking the high steel". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
Further reading
- Mitchell, Joseph. The Mohawks in High Steel, The New Yorker, September 9, 1949. Full text is located here:[1]
- Rasenberger, Jim. The 'Sky Boys', The New York Times, April 23, 2006
- Wasserman, Tina. Utopian Verticality: the Skyscraper and the Superhero in the American Imagination, Streetnotes (2019) 26: 177-190 ISSN 2159-2926
- Nessen, Stephen. Sky Walking: Raising Steel, A Mohawk Ironworker Keeps Tradition Alive, WNYC News, March 18, 2012
External links
- How Mohawk ‘Skywalkers’ Helped Build New York City’s Tallest Skyscrapers, History.com
- The Mohawk skywalkers who shaped New York City, Vice Magazine
This page was last edited on 8 June 2024, at 10:20