Old NATIVE AMERICAN MOHAWK INDIAN CHIEF White eagle SIGNED PHOTO ACTOR SCARCE For Sale

This is a rare and valuable signed 3 1/2 X 5 inch photo of a Native American Mohawk Indian Chief, White Eagle aka Basil F. Heath. (PLEASE NOTE SIGNATURE IS RUBBED AND MISSING IN PARTS) The photo is a beautiful representation of the chief in his traditional dress, and is a true piece of history. The tribal affiliation of the photo is Mohawk, and it was manufactured in the United States, making it a highly sought-after item for collectors of Native American culture and history. The photo is perfect for display in any home or office, and is sure to be a conversation starter.
Basil F. Heath (March 18, 1917 – January 24, 2011) better-known by his stage name, Chief White Eagle, was an actor, stuntman and television personality whose career spanned several decades beginning with the 1940 film, Northwest Passage. He also appeared in television programming in the Chicago, Illinois, F. Heath (March 18, 1917 – January 24, 2011),[1] better-known by his stage name, Chief White Eagle, was an actor, stuntman and television personality whose career spanned several decades beginning with the 1940 film, Northwest Passage. He also appeared in television programming in the Chicago, Illinois, area.[2][3]
BiographyBasil F. Heath was born on March 18, 1917.[4] Although he claimed to be of Mohawk ancestry,[1] after his death, his wife stated that Heath's parents were actually Andrew Cleve and Amelia (née De Amorim) Heath.[4] Heath attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec,[citation needed] and Oxford University, [citation needed] in the United Kingdom.[4] After moving to the United States, Heath served as a liaison officer for the United States Office of War Information during World War II, as well as a volunteer member of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division during the war.[1][4]He began his career as a welder and iron worker in skyscraper construction in Chicago and other cities.[better source needed][4][2] He then became a stuntman before transitioning to on-screen film roles.[4] His first film role came in the 1940 movie, Northwest Passage, which starred Spencer Tracy.[4] He appeared in more than thirty films throughout his career,[1] including Red River, and Niagara.[4]As "Chief White Eagle" he hosted Totem Club on WTTW in Chicago during the 1960s, including a segment called "Indian Stories with Chief White Eagle".[4][2] The show was one of the first children's programs to debut on WTTW, a PBS affiliate based out of Chicago.[4] He also hosted a radio show, appeared in television and radio commercials and appeared as a guest on television series, Wagon Train.[4] He was known for his appearances in which he wore a plains-style headdress.[1]Heath married his wife, Roberta “Bobbi Bear” Heath, on June 29, 1977. He resided in Tinley Park, Illinois, from 1975 until 1990.[4] He and his family then moved to Rochester, Indiana, where he lived for the rest of his life.[2]In 1996, Heath reflected on his acting career and the role of Native Americans in western films saying, "The Indians were always the losers...For years, the movie industry portrayed the Indians in a derogatory manner. Happily, today, Indian films are more credible."[2]He died at Woodlawn Hospital in Rochester, Indiana, at 2:35 a.m. on January 24, 2011, at the age of 93.[4] He was survived by his wife, Roberta “Bobbi Bear” Heath; daughter, Eunice Madeline Heath Collard; his adopted son, Kenneth "Lone Eagle" Heath; and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.[4] He was predeceased by his daughter, Lauraine Heath, and his two sisters, Sylvia Schroeder and Valerie Peterson.[4]
Selected filmography Trails of the Golden West (1931)
End of the Trail - Chief Grey Beard (1932)
Stagecoach - Indian Chief (uncredited) (1939)
Last of the Redmen - Indian (uncredited) (1947)
Red River - Indian Chief (uncredited) (1948)
How the West Was Won - Arapajo Chief (uncredited) (1962)
McLintock! - Running Buffalo (uncredited) (1963)Wearing his headdress, then-Tinley Park resident Basil “Chief White Eagle” Heath received quite the welcome when he accompanied village officials to their sister city of Budingen, Germany, years ago.“He was considered royalty by the royal house of England, so other countries treated him like royalty,” said Randy Tietz, chairman of the village’s sister city commission.Village Clerk Pat Rea remembered how “the crowds flocked around him.”Rea, Tietz and other longtime residents of Tinley Park have fond memories of Mr. Heath, who lived in the village from 1975 to 1990.Mr. Heath, 93, died Monday in Rochester, Ind.A member of the Mohawk tribe, he appeared in more than 30 movies “and always said that his good friend, John Wayne, had killed him at least seven times,” Rea said Thursday.Mr. Heath also appeared in numerous commercials and on a children’s show on public television.Mr. Heath, who was born March 18, 1917, on an Indian reservation in Ontario, served in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division as a volunteer during World War II, Rea said.During his years in Tinley Park, he often spoke with schoolchildren about his life, Rea said.“He always spoke of the beauty of the Indian culture, as does his wife, Bobbie Bear,” Rea said. “Chief White Eagle was very close to me.”Rea recalled when Mr. Heath presided over an Indian wedding for a young German submarine officer and his German bride at Tinley Park Lutheran Church after the bride’s father prevented them from marrying in Germany.“He was a very proud citizen of Tinley Park and an active spokesman for our village and on behalf of Native American-U.S. relations,” Rea said.Tietz said Mr. Heath was “open and informative and accepting of children or adults.”Tietz always was impressed by Mr. Heath’s “stage presence.”“The man never took a bad photo. He was quite amazing in that regard,” Tietz said.A memorial service will be held in the spring, Rea said.An Native American actor and a treasured piece of Tinley Park history died Monday in Rochester, Ind., after a few months of poor health.He was 93.Basil F. Heath, better known as Chief White Eagle, lived in unincorporated Tinley Park with his wife, Roberta, or Bobbi Bear, from about 1975 to 1990, said Village Clerk Pat Rea.He lived an accomplished life, Rea said, that included appearances in popular Western films alongside movie greats like John Wayne. “Northwest Passage” was his first film in 1940, and later he added “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” “Stage Coach” and more to his repertoire.Rea, who knew Heath well, said one of his favorite lines was to say his good friend John Wayne had killed him seven times.“He was just wonderful,” Rea said.According to his obituary, Heath also starred in the popular children’s television show “Totem Club” broadcast on Chicago’s WTTW Channel 11, for which he won an Emmy in 1964.“He won every award there was except an Oscar,” Rea said.Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1917, Rea said Heath served a senior Mohawk Chief in the United States and Canada. He also served in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne during WWII as a volunteer because he was still a Canadian citizen. Around 1995, he became a U.S. citizen.While living in Tinley Park, Heath and his wife both were active in the community and especially in the village’s Sister Cities Commission. Heath joined the group on a trip to sister city Budingen, Germany, in the mid-80’s. Everywhere they went, Heath was the main attraction.Dressed in his full Indian American regalia, Heath also pitched in when visitors from the village’s German sister city came to Tinley Park. He accompanied them to Starved Rock State Park where he explained the history of the park and how it got its name, said Carol Tietz, member of the Sister Cities Commission.She said Heath had a chiseled face, a great sense of humor and he always commanded a room.“He’s one of those bigger than life people and he was just a delight,” she said.Randal Tietz, chairman of the Sister Cities Commission and Carol’s husband, said one of Heath’s favorite jokes often came up when he would visit area schools to talk about his heritage. When people asked him where Native Americans came from, he would answer, “Cleveland.”“It stopped everybody in their tracks every time,” he said. “And he enjoyed that, he enjoyed people learning about his history.”Even though Heath and his wife left Tinley Park for Indiana in the early ‘90s, Tietz said in his eyes they always remained as Tinley Park residents.“He was always considered part of our community and especially part of the Sister Cities program,” he said.The couple’s place in Tinley Park’s history was cemented in 1991 when they performed a wedding ceremony for a German couple who eloped to Tinley Park to be married. The groom, a German submarine lieutenant, visited Tinley Park once before as a naval cadet. When his bride’s parents didn’t approve of their marriage, the two returned to Tinley Park where the village hosted a wedding for them at the Landmark Church.Heath and his wife performed the ceremony alongside a Baptist minister, mixing together Native American rituals with Christian traditions.“It was just remarkable,” Carol Tietz said. “He had such flair and drama. It was really an incredible site.”Randal Tietz said he last saw Heath during a social event a few years ago.“He was just as animated and interesting as always,” he said. “And we always looked forward to the opportunities of visiting. It was great to see him and he will be missed.”Basil F. Heath, better known to legions of Tinley Park residents and decades of moviegoers as Chief White Eagle, said John Wayne killed him seven times on the screen.The long-time Tinley Park resident died at 2:35 a.m. Monday in Woodlawn Hospital in Rochester, Ind. He was 93.Starting with 1939's Northwest Passage, White Eagle appeared in Westerns like She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Red River, Niagara, How the West was Won and Stage Coach. He later went on to host the "Indian Stories" segment of the long-running WTTW children's show Totem Club, which debuted in the 1960s.“Totem Club was one of the first children’s shows on WTTW and was the beginning of a long legacy of providing quality programming to the children of this community, which is at the heart of our mission, said Dan Soles, senior vice president of television content at WTTW.White Eagle also appeared on the show Wagon Train, made numerous commercials and public appearances and hosted a Native-American-centric radio show for many years.He lived in Tinley Park from about 1975 to 1990 and was well-known to the children of the town, said long-time friend and Village Clerk Pat Rea."He always considered himself a Tinley Parker," Rea said.White Eagle's wife, Bobbie Bear, called Rea this week to let him know the sad news. Village officials who were, as Mayor Ed Zabrocki put it, "old enough" held an impromptu memorial during Tuesday night's village board meeting."He really made an influence on the town many years ago," Zabrocki said. "He was a fixture here and it's a sad day."White Eagle was born on March 18, 1917, at the Iroquois Indian Grand River Reservation in Ontario, Canada, the son of Andrew Cleve and Amelina (Da Amorin) Heath. He attended McGill University in Montreal and later Oxford University in England.During World War II, he served as a liaison officer in the Office of War Information.He started his career as an iron worker and welder before becoming a stuntman and then making the transition to on-screen parts.He married Bobbie Bear in on June 29, 1977 in Grand River Reservation, Canada.In the mid-1980s, White Eagle and Bobbie Bear accompanied Rea, Zabrocki and other village representatives on an exchange visit to Tinley Park's European sister cities. Although both White Eagle and Bobbie Bear had high positions in their respective tribes, they were unaccustomed to the reception they received from the European nobility, Rea said."When they went to Europe, he was always given princely deference and his wife was automatically put in with the princesses, which, by the way, flabbergasted her," Rea said, laughing.Basil "Chief White Eagle" Heath is survived by: wife, Roberta “Bobbi Bear” Heath, Rochester, Ind.; daughter, Eunice Madeline Heath Collard, North Chichester, Essex, England; adopted tribal son, Kenneth “Lone Eagle”, Knox, Ind.; granddaughter, Laura Marie West, Dagenham, Essex, England; great-grandchildren, Connor Ben West and Kai Porter West, Dagenham, Essex, England; sister, Mildred Burgemeyer, Converse, Texas, and several nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by daughter Lauraine Heath and sisters Sylvia Schroeder and Valerie Peterson.The Kanien'kehá:ka (transl. "People of the flint";[2] commonly known in English as Mohawk people) are in the easternmost section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern New York State, primarily around Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. As one of the five original members of the Iroquois League, the Mohawk are known as the Keepers of the Eastern Door – the traditional guardians of the Iroquois Confederation against invasions from the east. The Mohawk are federally recognized in the United States as the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.[3]At the time of European contact the Mohawk people were based in the valley of the Mohawk River in present-day upstate New York, west of the Hudson River. Their territory ranged north to the St. Lawrence River, southern Quebec and eastern Ontario; south to greater New Jersey and into Pennsylvania; eastward to the Green Mountains of Vermont; and westward to the border with the Iroquoian Oneida Nation's traditional homeland territory.
Kanienʼkehá:ka communities

This section duplicates the scope of other articles, specifically #Communities. Please discuss this issue and help introduce a summary style to the section by replacing the section with a link and a summary or by splitting the content into a new article. (May 2023)
Kanienʼkehá:ka dancer at a pow wow in 2015
Contemporary Quebec Kanienʼkehá꞉ka dance performance at Wikimania 2017Members of the Kanienʼkehá:ka people now live in settlements in northern New York State and southeastern Canada.
Mohawk people is located in USA Mohawk communitiesMany Kanienʼkehá:ka communities have two sets of chiefs, who are in some sense competing governmental rivals. One group are the hereditary chiefs (royaner), nominated by Clan Mother matriarchs in the traditional Mohawk fashion. Mohawks of most of the reserves have established constitutions with elected chiefs and councilors, with whom the Canadian and U.S. governments usually prefer to deal exclusively. The self-governing communities are listed below, grouped by broad geographical cluster, with notes on the character of community governance found in each. Northern New York:
Kanièn:ke (Ganienkeh) "Place of the flint". Traditional governance.
Kanaʼtsioharè:ke "Place of the washed pail". Traditional governance.
Along the St Lawrence in Quebec:
Ahkwesáhsne (St. Regis, New York and Quebec/Ontario, Canada) "Where the partridge drums". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
Kahnawà:ke (south of Montréal) "On the rapids". Canada, traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
Kanehsatà:ke (Oka) "Where the snow crust is". Canada, traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
Tioweró:ton (Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Quebec). Canada, shared governance between Kahnawà꞉ke and Kanehsatà꞉ke.
Southern Ontario:
Kenhtè꞉ke (Tyendinaga) "On the bay". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
Wáhta (Gibson) "Maple tree". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections.
Ohswé:ken "Six Nations of the Grand River". Traditional governance, band/tribal elections. Mohawks form the majority of the population of this Iroquois Six Nations reserve. There are also Mohawk Orange Lodges in Canada.Given increased activism for land claims, a rise in tribal revenues due to establishment of gaming on certain reserves or reservations, competing leadership, traditional government jurisdiction, issues of taxation, and the Canadian Indian Act, Mohawk communities have been dealing with considerable internal conflict since the late 20th century.
History
First contact with European settlers

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)In the Mohawk language, the Mohawk people call themselves the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka ("people of the flint"). The Mohawk became wealthy traders as other nations in their confederacy needed their flint for tool making. Their Algonquian-speaking neighbors (and competitors), the people of Muh-heck Haeek Ing ("food area place"), the Mohicans, referred to the people of Ka-nee-en Ka as Maw Unk Lin, meaning "bear people". The Dutch heard and wrote this term as Mohawk, and also referred to the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka as Egil or Maqua.The French colonists adapted these latter terms as Aignier and Maqui, respectively. They also referred to the people by the generic Iroquois, a French derivation of the Algonquian term for the Five Nations, meaning "Big Snakes". The Algonquians and Iroquois were traditional competitors and enemies.In the upper Hudson and Mohawk Valley regions, the Mohawks long had contact with the Algonquian-speaking Mohican people who occupied territory along the Hudson, as well as other Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples to the north around the Great Lakes. The Mohawks had extended their own influence into the St. Lawrence River Valley, which they maintained for hunting grounds. They are believed to have defeated the St. Lawrence Iroquoians in the 16th century, and kept control of their territory. In addition to hunting and fishing for centuries the Mohawks cultivated productive maize fields on the fertile floodplains along the Mohawk River, west of the Pine Bush.On June 28, 1609, a band of Hurons led Samuel De Champlain and his crew into Mohawk country, the Mohawks being completely unaware of this situation. De Champlain made it clear he wanted to strike the Mohawks down after their raids on the neighboring nations. On July 29, 1609, hundreds of Hurons and many of De Champlain's French crew fell back from the mission, daunted by what lay ahead. Sixty Huron Indians, De Champlain, and two Frenchmen saw some Mohawks in a lake near Ticonderoga; the Mohawks spotted them as well. De Champlain and his crew fell back, then advanced to the Mohawk barricade after landing on a beach. They met the Mohawks at the barricade; 200 warriors advanced behind four chiefs. They were equally astonished to see each other -- De Champlain surprised at their stature, confidence, and dress; the Mohawks surprised by De Champlain's steel cuirass and helmet. One of the chiefs raised his bow at Champlain and the Indians. Champlain fired three shots that pierced the Mohawk chiefs' wooden armor, killing them instantly. The Mohawks stood in shock until they started flinging arrows at the crowd. A brawl began and the Mohawks fell back seeing the damage this new technology dealt on their chiefs and warriors. This was the first contact the Mohawks had with Europeans. This incident also sparked the Beaver Wars.
Beaver Wars

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)In the seventeenth century, the Mohawk encountered both the Dutch, who went up the Hudson River and established a trading post in 1614 at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, and the French, who came south into their territory from New France (present-day Quebec). The Dutch were primarily merchants and the French also conducted fur trading. During this time the Mohawk fought with the Huron in the Beaver Wars for control of the fur trade with the Europeans. Their Jesuit missionaries were active among First Nations and Native Americans, seeking converts to Catholicism.In 1614, the Dutch opened a trading post at Fort Nassau, New Netherland. The Dutch initially traded for furs with the local Mohican, who occupied the territory along the Hudson River. Following a raid in 1626 when the Mohawks resettled along the south side of the Mohawk River,[4]: pp.xix–xx  in 1628, they mounted an attack against the Mohican, pushing them back to the area of present-day Connecticut. The Mohawks gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch by prohibiting the nearby Algonquian-speaking peoples to the north or east to trade with them but did not entirely control this.European contact resulted in a devastating smallpox epidemic among the Mohawk in 1635; this reduced their population by 63%, from 7,740 to 2,830, as they had no immunity to the new disease. By 1642 they had regrouped from four into three villages, recorded by Catholic missionary priest Isaac Jogues in 1642 as Ossernenon, Andagaron, and Tionontoguen, all along the south side of the Mohawk River from east to west. These were recorded by speakers of other languages with different spellings, and historians have struggled to reconcile various accounts, as well as to align them with archeological studies of the areas. For instance, Johannes Megapolensis, a Dutch minister, recorded the spelling of the same three villages as Asserué, Banagiro, and Thenondiogo.[4] Late 20th-century archeological studies have determined that Ossernenon was located about 9 miles west of the current city of Auriesville; the two were mistakenly conflated by a tradition that developed in the late 19th century in the Catholic Church.[5][6]While the Dutch later established settlements in present-day Schenectady and Schoharie, further west in the Mohawk Valley, merchants in Fort Nassau continued to control the fur trading. Schenectady was established essentially as a farming settlement, where the Dutch took over some of the former Mohawk maize fields in the floodplain along the river. Through trading, the Mohawk and Dutch became allies of a kind.During their alliance, the Mohawks allowed Dutch Protestant missionary Johannes Megapolensis to come into their communities and teach the Christian message. He operated from the Fort Nassau area for about six years, writing a record in 1644 of his observations of the Mohawk, their language (which he learned), and their culture. While he noted their ritual of torture of captives, he recognized that their society had few other killings, especially compared to the Netherlands of that period.[7][8]The trading relations between the Mohawk and Dutch helped them maintain peace even during the periods of Kieft's War and the Esopus Wars, when the Dutch fought localized battles with other native peoples. In addition, Dutch trade partners equipped the Mohawk with guns to fight against other First Nations who were allied with the French, including the Ojibwe, Huron-Wendat, and Algonquin. In 1645, the Mohawk made peace for a time with the French, who were trying to keep a piece of the fur trade.[9]During the Pequot War (1634–1638), the Pequot and other Algonquian Indians of coastal New England sought an alliance with the Mohawks against English colonists of that region. Disrupted by their losses to smallpox, the Mohawks refused the alliance. They killed the Pequot sachem Sassacus who had come to them for refuge, and returned part of his remains to the English governor of Connecticut, John Winthrop, as proof of his death.[10]In the winter of 1651, the Mohawk attacked on the southeast and overwhelmed the Algonquian in the coastal areas. They took between 500 and 600 captives. In 1664, the Pequot of New England killed a Mohawk ambassador, starting a war that resulted in the destruction of the Pequot, as the English and their allies in New England entered the conflict, trying to suppress the Native Americans in the region. The Mohawk also attacked other members of the Pequot confederacy, in a war that lasted until 1671.[citation needed]In 1666, the French attacked the Mohawk in the central New York area, burning the three Mohawk villages south of the river and their stored food supply. One of the conditions of the peace was that the Mohawk accept Jesuit missionaries. Beginning in 1669, missionaries attempted to convert Mohawks to Christianity, operating a mission in Ossernenon 9 miles west[5][6] of present-day Auriesville, New York until 1684, when the Mohawks destroyed it, killing several priests.Over time, some converted Mohawk relocated to Jesuit mission villages established south of Montreal on the St. Lawrence River in the early 1700s: Kahnawake (used to be spelled as Caughnawaga, named for the village of that name in the Mohawk Valley) and Kanesatake. These Mohawk were joined by members of other Indigenous peoples but dominated the settlements by number. Many converted to Roman Catholicism. In the 1740s, Mohawk and French set up another village upriver, which is known as Akwesasne. Today a Mohawk reserve, it spans the St. Lawrence River and present-day international boundaries to New York, United States, where it is known as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.Kateri Tekakwitha, born at Ossernenon in the late 1650s, has become noted as a Mohawk convert to Catholicism. She moved with relatives to Caughnawaga on the north side of the river after her parents' deaths.[4] She was known for her faith and a shrine was built to her in New York. In the late 20th century, she was beatified and was canonized in October 2012 as the first Native American Catholic saint. She is also recognized by the Episcopal and Lutheran churches.After the fall of New Netherland to England in 1664, the Mohawk in New York traded with the English and sometimes acted as their allies. During King Philip's War, Metacom, sachem of the warring Wampanoag Pokanoket, decided to winter with his warriors near Albany in 1675. Encouraged by the English, the Mohawk attacked and killed all but 40 of the 400 Pokanoket.[citation needed]From the 1690s, Protestant missionaries sought to convert the Mohawk in the New York colony. Many were baptized with English surnames, while others were given both first and surnames in English.During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Mohawk and Abenaki First Nations in New England were involved in raids conducted by the French and English against each other's settlements during Queen Anne's War and other conflicts. They conducted a growing trade in captives, holding them for ransom. Neither of the colonial governments generally negotiated for common captives, and it was up to local European communities to raise funds to ransom their residents. In some cases, French and Abenaki raiders transported captives from New England to Montreal and the Mohawk mission villages. The Mohawk at Kahnawake adopted numerous young women and children to add to their own members, having suffered losses to disease and warfare. For instance, among them were numerous survivors of the more than 100 captives taken in the Deerfield raid in western Massachusetts. The minister of Deerfield was ransomed and returned to Massachusetts, but his daughter was adopted by a Mohawk family and ultimately assimilated and married a Mohawk man.[11]During the era of the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years' War), Anglo-Mohawk partnership relations were maintained by men such as Sir William Johnson in New York (for the British Crown), Conrad Weiser (on behalf of the colony of Pennsylvania), and Hendrick Theyanoguin (for the Mohawk). Johnson called the Albany Congress in June 1754, to discuss with the Iroquois chiefs repair of the damaged diplomatic relationship between the British and the Mohawk, along with securing their cooperation and support in fighting the French,[12] in engagements in North America.
American Revolutionary War

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Find sources: "Mohawk people" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)During the second and third quarters of the 18th century, most of the Mohawks in the Province of New York lived along the Mohawk River at Canajoharie. A few lived at Schoharie, and the rest lived about 30 miles downstream at the Tionondorage Castle, also called Fort Hunter. These two major settlements were traditionally called the Upper Castle and the Lower Castle. The Lower Castle was almost contiguous with Sir Peter Warren's Warrensbush. Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, built his first house on the north bank of the Mohawk River almost opposite Warrensbush and established the settlement of Johnstown.The Mohawk were among the four Iroquois people that allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War. They had a long trading relationship with the British and hoped to gain support to prohibit colonists from encroaching into their territory in the Mohawk Valley. Joseph Brant acted as a war chief and successfully led raids against British and ethnic German colonists in the Mohawk Valley, who had been given land by the British administration near the rapids at present-day Little Falls, New York.A few prominent Mohawk, such as the sachem Little Abraham (Tyorhansera) at Fort Hunter, remained neutral throughout the war.[13] Joseph Louis Cook (Akiatonharónkwen), a veteran of the French and Indian War and ally of the rebels, offered his services to the Americans, receiving an officer's commission from the Continental Congress. He led Oneida warriors against the British. During this war, Johannes Tekarihoga was the civil leader of the Mohawk. He died around 1780. Catherine Crogan, a clan mother and wife of Mohawk war chief Joseph Brant, named her brother Henry Crogan as the new Tekarihoga.In retaliation for Brant's raids in the valley, the rebel colonists organized Sullivan's Expedition. It conducted extensive raids against other Iroquois settlements in central and western New York, destroying 40 villages, crops, and winter stores. Many Mohawk and other Iroquois migrated to Canada for refuge near Fort Niagara, struggling to survive the winter.
After the Revolution
Teyoninhokovrawen (John Norton) played a prominent role in the War of 1812, leading Iroquois warriors from Grand River into battle against Americans. Norton was part Cherokee and part Scottish.After the American victory, the British ceded their claim to land in the colonies, and the Americans forced their allies, the Mohawks and others, to give up their territories in New York. Most of the Mohawks migrated to Canada, where the Crown gave them some land in compensation. The Mohawks at the Upper Castle fled to Fort Niagara, while most of those at the Lower Castle went to villages near Montreal.Joseph Brant led a large group of Iroquois out of New York to what became the reserve of the Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario. Brant continued as a political leader of the Mohawks for the rest of his life. This land extended 100 miles from the head of the Grand River to the head of Lake Erie where it discharges.[14] Another Mohawk war chief, John Deseronto, led a group of Mohawk to the Bay of Quinte. Other Mohawks settled in the vicinity of Montreal and upriver, joining the established communities (now reserves) at Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and Akwesasne.On November 11, 1794, representatives of the Mohawk (along with the other Iroquois nations) signed the Treaty of Canandaigua with the United States, which allowed them to own land there.The Mohawks fought as allies of the British against the United States in the War of 1812.
20th century to presentIn 1971, the Mohawk Warrior Society, also Rotisken’rakéhte in the Mohawk language, was founded in Kahnawake. The duties of the Warrior Society are to use roadblocks, evictions, and occupations to gain rights for their people, and these tactics are also used among the warriors to protect the environment from pollution. The notable movements started by the Mohawk Warrior Society have been the Oka Crisis blockades in 1990 and the Caledonia Ontario, Douglas Creek occupation of a construction site in summer of 2006.On May 13, 1974, at 4:00 a.m, Mohawks from the Kahnawake and Akwesasne reservations repossessed traditional Mohawk land near Old Forge, New York, occupying Moss Lake, an abandoned girls camp. The New York state government attempted to shut the operation down, but after negotiation, the state offered the Mohawk some land in Miner Lake, where they have since settled.The Mohawks have organized for more sovereignty at their reserves in Canada, pressing for authority over their people and lands. Tensions with the Quebec Provincial and national governments have been strained during certain protests, such as the Oka Crisis in 1990.In 1993, a group of Akwesasne Mohawks purchased 322 acres of land in the Town of Palatine in Montgomery County, New York which they named Kanatsiohareke. It marked a return to their ancestral land.
Mohawk ironworkers in New York
See also: Mohawk skywalkersMohawks came from Kahnawake and other reserves to work in the construction industry in New York City in the early through the mid-20th century. They had also worked in construction in Quebec. The men were ironworkers who helped build bridges and skyscrapers, and who were called skywalkers because of their seeming fearlessness.[15] They worked from the 1930s to the 1970s on special labor contracts as specialists and participated in building the Empire State Building. The construction companies found that the Mohawk ironworkers did not fear heights or dangerous conditions. Their contracts offered lower than average wages to the First Nations people and limited labor union membership.[16] About 10% of all ironworkers in the New York area are Mohawks, down from about 15% earlier in the 20th century.[17]The work and home life of Mohawk ironworkers was documented in Don Owen's 1965 National Film Board of Canada documentary High Steel.[18] The Mohawk community that formed in a compact area of Brooklyn, which they called "Little Caughnawaga", after their homeland, is documented in Reaghan Tarbell's Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back, shown on PBS in 2008. This community was most active from the 1920s to the 1960s. The families accompanied the men, who were mostly from Kahnawake; together they would return to Kahnawake during the summers. Tarbell is from Kahnawake and was working as a film curator at the George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, located in the former Custom House in Lower Manhattan.[19]Since the mid-20th century, Mohawks have also formed their own construction companies. Others returned to New York projects. Mohawk skywalkers had built the World Trade Center buildings that were destroyed during the September 11 attacks, helped rescue people from the burning towers in 2001, and helped dismantle the remains of the building afterwards.[20] Approximately 200 Mohawk ironworkers (out of 2,000 total ironworkers at the site) participated in rebuilding the One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. They typically drive the 360 miles from the Kahnawake reserve on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec to work the week in lower Manhattan and then return on the weekend to be with their families. A selection of portraits of these Mohawk ironworkers were featured in an online photo essay for Time Magazine in September 2012.[21]
Contemporary issues
CasinosBoth the elected chiefs and the Warrior Society have encouraged gambling as a means of ensuring tribal self-sufficiency on the various reserves or Indian reservations. Traditional chiefs have tended to oppose gaming on moral grounds and out of fear of corruption and organized crime. Such disputes have also been associated with religious divisions: the traditional chiefs are often associated with the Longhouse tradition, practicing consensus-democratic values, while the Warrior Society has attacked that religion and asserted independence. Meanwhile, the elected chiefs have tended to be associated (though in a much looser and general way) with democratic, legislative and Canadian governmental values.On October 15, 1993, Governor Mario Cuomo entered into the "Tribal-State Compact Between the St. Regis Mohawk First Nation and the State of New York". The compact allowed the Indigenous people to conduct gambling, including games such as baccarat, blackjack, craps and roulette, on the Akwesasne Reservation in Franklin County under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). According to the terms of the 1993 compact, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, the New York State Police and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Gaming Commission were vested with gaming oversight. Law enforcement responsibilities fell under the state police, with some law enforcement matters left to the community. As required by IGRA, the compact was approved by the United States Department of the Interior before it took effect. There were several extensions and amendments to this compact, but not all of them were approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior.On June 12, 2003, the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the lower courts' rulings that Governor Cuomo exceeded his authority by entering into the compact absent legislative authorization and declared the compact void [22] On October 19, 2004, Governor George Pataki signed a bill passed by the State Legislature that ratified the compact as being nunc pro tunc, with some additional minor changes.[23]In 2008 the Mohawk Nation was working to obtain approval to own and operate a casino in Sullivan County, New York, at Monticello Raceway. The U.S. Department of the Interior disapproved this action although the Mohawks gained Governor Eliot Spitzer's concurrence, subject to the negotiation and approval of either an amendment to the current compact or a new compact. Interior rejected the Mohawks' application to take this land into trust.[24]In the early 21st century, two legal cases were pending that related to Native American gambling and land claims in New York. The State of New York has expressed similar objections to the Dept. of Interior taking other land into trust for federally recognized 'tribes', which would establish the land as sovereign Native American territory, on which they might establish new gaming facilities.[25] The other suit contends that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violates the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as it is applied in the State of New York. In 2010 it was pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.[26]
Culture
Social organizationThe main structures of social organization are the clans (ken'tara'okòn:'a). The number of clans vary among the Haudenosaunee; the Mohawk have three: Bear (Ohkwa:ri), Turtle (A'nó:wara), and Wolf (Okwaho).[27] Clans are nominally the descendants of a single female ancestor, with women possessing the leadership role. Each member of the same clan, across all the Six Nations, is considered a relative. Traditionally, marriages between people of the same clan are forofferden.[note 1] Children belong to their mother's clan.[28]
ReligionTraditional Mohawk religion is mostly Animist. "Much of the religion is based on a primordial conflict between good and evil."[29] Many Mohawks continue to follow the Longhouse Religion.In 1632 a band of Jesuit missionaries now known as the Canadian Martyrs led by Isaac Jogues was captured by a party of Mohawks and brought to Ossernenon (now Auriesville, New York). Jogues and company attempted to convert the Mohawks to Catholicism, but the Mohawks took them captive, tortured, abused and killed them.[30] Following their martyrdom, new French Jesuit missionaries arrived and many Mohawks were baptized into the Catholic faith. Ten years after Jogues' death Kateri Tekakwitha, the daughter of a Mohawk chief and Tagaskouita, a Roman Catholic Algonquin woman, was born in Ossernenon and later was canonized as the first Native American saint. Religion became a tool of conflict between the French and British in Mohawk country. The Reformed clergyman Godfridius Dellius also preached among the Mohawks.[31]
Traditional dress

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Iroquois Mohawk named Sychnecta, 1764Historically, the traditional hairstyle of Mohawk men, and many men of the other groups of the Iroquois Confederacy, was to remove most of the hair from the head by plucking (not shaving) tuft by tuft of hair until all that was left was a smaller section, that was worn in a variety of styles, which could vary by community. The women wore their hair long, often dressed with traditional bear grease, or tied back into a single braid.In traditional dress women often went topless in summer and wore a skirt of deerskin. In colder seasons, women wore a deerskin dress. Men wore a breech cloth of deerskin in summer. In cooler weather, they added deerskin leggings, a deerskin shirt, arm and knee bands, and carried a quill and flint arrow hunting bag. Women and men wore puckered-seam, ankle-wrap moccasins with earrings and necklaces made of shells. Jewelry was also created using porcupine quills such as Wampum belts. For headwear, the men would use a piece of animal fur with attached porcupine quills and features. The women would occasionally wear tiaras of beaded cloth. Later, dress after European contact combined some cloth pieces such as wool trousers and skirts.[32][33]
MarriageThe Mohawk Nation people have a matrilineal kinship system, with descent and inheritance passed through the female line. Today, the marriage ceremony may follow that of the old tradition or incorporate newer elements, but is still used by many Mohawk Nation marrying couples. Some couples choose to marry in the European manner and the Longhouse manner, with the Longhouse ceremony usually held first.[34]
CommunitiesReplicas of seventeenth-century longhouses have been built at landmarks and tourist villages, such as Kanata Village, Brantford, Ontario, and Akwesasne's "Tsiionhiakwatha" interpretation village. Other Mohawk Nation Longhouses are found on the Mohawk territory reserves that hold the Mohawk law recitations, ceremonial rites, and Longhouse Religion (or "Code of Handsome Lake"). These include: Ohswé꞉ken (Six Nations)[35] First Nation Territory, Ontario holds six Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
Wáhta[36] First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
Kenhtè꞉ke (Tyendinaga)[37] First Nation Territory, Ontario holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
Ahkwesásne[38] First Nation Territory, which straddles the borders of Quebec, Ontario and New York, holds two Mohawk Ceremonial Community Longhouses.
Kaʼnehsatà꞉ke First Nation Territory, Quebec holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouses.
Kahnawà꞉ke[39] First Nation Territory, Quebec holds three Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
Kanièn꞉ke[40] First Nation Territory, New York State holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.
Kanaʼtsioharà꞉ke[41] First Nation Territory, New York State holds one Ceremonial Mohawk Community Longhouse.Notable Mohawk
Pauline Johnson, Mohawk writer Tammy Beauvais, Mohawk fashion designer
Beth Brant, Mohawk writer and poet
Joseph Brant, Mohawk leader, British officer
Molly Brant, Mohawk leader, sister of Joseph Brant
Joseph Tehawehron David, Mohawk artist
Esther Louise Georgette Deer, Mohawk dancer and singer
Tracey Deer, Mohawk filmmaker
John Deseronto, Mohawk chief
Canaqueese, called Flemish Bastard, Mohawk chief
Carla Hemlock, quilter, beadwork artist
Donald "Babe" Hemlock, woodcarver, sculptor
Hiawatha, Mohawk chief
Karonghyontye or Captain David Hill, Mohawk leader
Kahn-Tineta Horn, activist
Kaniehtiio Horn, film and television actress
Waneek Horn-Miller, Olympic water polo player
Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, actress, writer, and director
Sid Jamieson, lacrosse player, coach
George Henry Martin Johnson, Mohawk chief and interpreter
Pauline Johnson, writer
Stan Jonathan, former NHL hockey player
Dawn Martin-Hill, professor
Derek Miller, singer-songwriter
Patricia Monture-Angus, lawyer, activist, educator, and author.
Alwyn Morris, Olympic K–2 1000m.
Shelley Niro (b. 1954), filmmaker, photographer, and installation artist
John Norton, Scottish born, adopted into the Mohawk First Nation and made an honorary "Pine Tree Chief"
Richard Oakes, Mohawk activist
Ots-Toch, wife of Dutch colonist Cornelius A. Van Slyck
Alex Rice, actress
Robbie Robertson, singer-songwriter, The Band
August Schellenberg, actor
Jay Silverheels, actor
Skawennati, multimedia artist and curator
Barbara Stanley, professor, writer/author, activist, and GSNEO Woman of Distinction 2012
Taiaiake Alfred, professor and activist
Kiawentiio Tarbell, actress, singer-songwriter, and visual artist
Julian Taylor, rock singer (Staggered Crossing, Julian Taylor Band)[42]
Hendrick Tejonihokarawa Mohawk chief of the Wolf Clan; one of the four kings to visit England to see Queen Anne to ask for help fighting the French
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, "Lily of the Mohawks", a Catholic saint
Mary Two-Axe Earley, women's rights activist
Billy Two Rivers, professional wrestler
Oronhyatekha, physician, Scholar
Tom Wilson, rock singer (Junkhouse, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Lee Harvey Osmond)
Herbert York, nuclear physicist; administratorSee also flagNew York (state) portaliconHudson Valley portal Iroquois Confederacy
Iroquoian languages
Kahnawake surnames
Mohawk language
Native Americans in the United States
Native American tribe
Oka Crisis
The Flying HeadNotes"Within certain clans there may also be different types of one animal or bird. For example, the turtle clan has three different types of turtles, the wolf clan has three different types of wolves and the bear clan includes three different types of bears allowing for marriage within the clan as long as each belongs to a different species of the clan."[28]Basil F. "Chief White Eagle" Heath, 93, 3161 N. Evergreen St., passed away at 2:35 a.m. Monday at Woodlawn Hospital, Rochester.He was born on March 18, 1917, at the Iroquois Indian Grand River Reservation in Ontario, Canada, the son of Andrew Cleve and Amelina (Da Amorin) Heath. He attended McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and Oxford University in England. During World War II he served with the OWIUSA in the ETO as a Liaison Officer. On June 29, 1977, in Grand River Reservation, Canada, he married Roberta Bear and she survives.Chief White Eagle's professional career started out as an iron worker and welder, building bridges and skyscrapers across Canada and the United States including the Sears Tower in Chicago, Ill. His comfort for walking on 6-inch beams at heights of over 200 feet led him to work as a stunt man for film makers. His stunt work in films led to a natural transition into action parts as well.Chief White Eagle appeared in many movies over the years. His first movie was in 1939, "Northwest Passage," as well as appearing in the movies "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," "Red River," "Niagara," "How the West was Won" and "Stage Coach." Film work eventually led into his television career where he wrote and acted on the longest running popular children's show in Chicago, on WTTW Channel 11 called the "Totem Club." He was nominated for an Emmy award for three years winning in 1964. His television credits also included appearing on the nationwide show "Wagon Train." As well as hosting a television show, he also hosted an ethnic radio show on WXFM, Chicago, for many years.Chief White Eagle appeared in numerous commercials, both in local regions and nation wide. He was always in demand to appear at county fairs, rodeos, sports shows and other events as a host and master of ceremonies. He was hired by the Brunswick Athletic Organization as a champion bowler, and taught many children how to bowl.His film work, television work and community involvement enabled him to meet many prominent people over the years including Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. He was also privileged to dine with numerous foreign dignitaries including the Royal Family of Germany, Princess Elizabeth, Prince Ferdinand, Princess Leonella, Prince Wolfgang, Prince Cashimir, Prince Ott, Princess Renata and Prince Arnold. When hospitalized in the St. Joseph Hospital, Plymouth, years ago his spirits where lifted by a visit from Princess Elizabeth.Chief White Eagle was a member or endorsed many organizations through out his life including the Screen Actor's Guild, Shriners, Kiwanis, Boys Scouts of America, where he was awarded an honorary Scout Master certificate, and was still active with the Fulton County Historical Society. His activities over the years led to many recognitions, including receiving the keys to many cities across the United States, induction into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in southern Indiana, bestowed upon the title of Honorary Commissioner of Illinois, chosen one of Indiana's "Famous Icons" and was given the title of the "Living Legend of Rochester, Indiana." In his spare time he enjoyed making walking canes and badges, and loved to collect baseball caps.Survivors include his wife, Roberta "Bobbi Bear" Heath, Rochester; daughter Eunice Madeline Heath Collard, North Chichester, Essex, England; adopted tribal son Kenneth "Lone Eagle," Knox; granddaughter Laura Marie West, Dagenham, Essex, England; great-grandchildren, Connor Ben West and Kai Porter West, Dagenham, Essex, England; sister Mildred Burgemeyer, Converse, Texas; and several nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his daughter, Lauraine Heath; and sisters, Sylvia Schroeder and Valerie Peterson.Northwest Passage, also billed as Northwest Passage (Book 1: Roger's Rangers), is a 1940 American Western film in Technicolor, directed by King Vidor. It stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan and Ruth Hussey. The film is set in 1759, and tells a partly fictionalized version of the real-life St. Francis Raid by Rogers' Rangers, led by Robert Rogers (played by Tracy) on the primarily Abenaki village of St. Francis, in modern-day Canada. The screenplay, by Laurence Stallings and Talbot Jennings, is based on the 1937 historical novel Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts.Roberts's novel is split into two parts, referred to as "Book 1" and "Book 2", and the film is based entirely on Book 1. There was originally discussion about filming a sequel that would cover Book 2, but this did not happen. Ironically, Rogers' quest to find a Northwest Passage through North America, which gave both the novel and the film their title, takes place in Book 2, and is only briefly mentioned in the film.
PlotIn 1759, Langdon Towne, son of a ropemaker and ship rigger, returns to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after his expulsion from Harvard University. Although disappointed, his family greets him with love, as does Elizabeth Browne. Elizabeth's father, a noted clergyman, is less welcoming and denigrates Langdon's aspirations to become a painter.At the local tavern with friend Sam Livermore, Langdon disparages Wiseman Clagett, the king's attorney and the Native American agent Sir William Johnson, unaware that Clagett is in the next room with another official. Facing arrest, Langdon fights the two men with the help of "Hunk" Marriner, a local woodsman and both escape into the countryside.Fleeing westward, Langdon and Marriner stop in a backwoods tavern, where they help a man in a green uniform. After a night of drinking "Flip" (similar to hot buttered rum), the two men wake up at Fort Crown Point, where they learn the man they met is Major Robert Rogers, commander of Rogers' Rangers. In need of Langdon's map-making skills, Rogers recruits the two men for his latest expedition to destroy the hostile Abenakis tribe and their town of St. Francis, far to the north.Rogers's force rows north in whale boats on Lake Champlain by night, evading French patrols, but several soldiers are injured in a confrontation with Mohawk scouts. Rogers sends not only the wounded back to Crown Point, but also the disloyal Mohawks provided by Sir William Johnson and a number of men who disobeyed orders. Concealing their boats, the depleted force marches through swampland to conceal their movements. Informed by Stockbridge Indian scouts that the French have captured their boats and extra supplies, Rogers revises his plan and sends an injured officer back to Fort Crown Point requesting the British send supplies to old Fort Wentworth, to be met by the returning rangers.Making a human chain to cross a river, the rangers reach St. Francis. Their attack succeeds, and they set fire to the dwellings and cut the Abenakis off from retreat. After the battle, the rangers find only a few baskets of parched corn to replenish their provisions. Marriner finds Langdon shot in his abdomen. The rangers set out for Wentworth, pursued by hostile French and Indian forces. Their initial objective is Lake Memphremagog, with the injured Langdon bringing up the rear.Ten days later, Rogers's men reach the hills above Lake Memphremagog. Encountering signs of French activity, Rogers prefers to press on a hundred miles to Fort Wentworth, but the men vote to split up into four parties to hunt for food. Game proves scarce and two of the detachments are ambushed by the French, leaving most of the men dead. Persevering through harsh conditions, Rogers and the remaining fifty men finally reach the fort, only to find it unoccupied and in disrepair, and the British relief column has not arrived. Though personally despairing, Rogers attempts to perk up their flagging spirits with a prayer. They then hear the fifes and drums of approaching British boats with the supplies. Reporting that the Abenakis have been destroyed, the British honour Rogers’ men by presenting their firearms and shouting "Hip, hip, hooray".Returning to Portsmouth, Langdon reunites with Elizabeth while the Rangers are given a new mission: to find the Northwest Passage. Rogers fires them up with a speech about the wonders they will see on the march to the first point of embarkation, a little fort called "Detroit". He passes by Langdon and Elizabeth to say goodbye; Elizabeth informs him that she and Langdon are headed for London, where she is hopeful Langdon will become a great painter. Rogers offers them farewell, and marches down the road, into the sunset.
Cast Spencer Tracy as Major Rogers
Robert Young as Langdon Towne
Walter Brennan as "Hunk" Marriner
Ruth Hussey as Elizabeth Browne
Nat Pendleton as "Cap" Huff
Louis Hector as Reverend Browne
Robert Barrat as Humphrey Towne
Lumsden Hare as Lord Amherst
Donald MacBride as Sergeant McNott
Isabel Jewell as Jennie Coit
Douglas Walton as Lieutenant Avery
Addison Richards as Lieutenant Crofton
Hugh Sothern as Jesse Beacham
Regis Toomey as Webster
Montagu Love as Wiseman Clagett
Lester Matthews as Sam Livermore
Truman Bradley as Captain OgdenProduction
DevelopmentThe film is set in the mid-18th century during the French and Indian War (as the Seven Years' War in North America is usually known in the US). It is a partly fictionalized account of the St. Francis Raid, an attack by Rogers' Rangers on Saint Francis (the current Odanak, Quebec), a settlement of the Abenakis, an American Indian tribe. The purpose of the raid was to avenge the many attacks on British settlers and deter any further ones.The title is something of a misnomer, since this film is a truncated version of the original story, and only at the end do we find that Rogers and his men are about to go on a search for the Northwest Passage.
FilmingThe film was shot in central Idaho, near Payette Lake and the city of McCall.The film wound up as MGM's most expensive film since Ben Hur (1926).[2] The picture was originally slated for an even more lavish budget in an earlier incarnation and was to star Wallace Beery and Tracy but management difficulties between Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer interceded at that time.
Reception
Box officeAccording to MGM records the film earned $2,169,000 in the US and Canada and $981,000 elsewhere but because of its high cost incurred a loss of $885,000.[1]
Awards and honorsThe film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography (Color) in 1941, but lost out to The Thief of Bagdad.
Sequels and related projectsAccording to one source, the script was revised by as many as 12 other writers, in addition to the two credited.[3] Author Kenneth Roberts served as a co-writer on a second draft of a proposed script for the movie, one that covered the entire novel, not just the first book of it. However, executives at MGM scuttled the revision and instead used the first draft of the script, which covered only the first book, as the basis for the finished film. This is why the film Northwest Passage was subtitled Book One: Rogers' Rangers.Director King Vidor then attempted to make a sequel to the film in which Rogers' Rangers find the Northwest Passage, although Roberts refused to cooperate with the project. But filming never began, because MGM ultimately refused to green-light it.MGM produced a 1958-1959 American television series Northwest Passage starring Keith Larsen as Robert Rogers, with Buddy Ebsen costarring as "Hunk" Marriner, replacing Walter Brennan, who had his own TV series, The Real McCoys, in production at the time. The show aired on NBC.[4]
Legacy
Depiction of American IndiansThe film's depiction of American Indians came to be criticized as racist, even by the standards of Hollywood at the time. This appraisal mirrors that of the section of the novel set during the French and Indian War, which has become equally regarded as racist.Clive Denton, in his 1976 book The Hollywood Professionals: Volume 5, made these observations on the subject: Vidor’s Northwest Passage “sits more than a trifle uneasily that [Spencer] Tracy and his submissive band attack and burn a sleeping Indian village. The tribe has massacred and outraged [innocent whites], we are told, but we have not seen them do anything wrong, and they are certainly not belligerent in their sleep. Perhaps I should not berate Vidor for the conventions of good guys and bad guys in adventure movies. But I am still somewhat bothered by Major Rogers, who, beneath Tracy’s charm, is something of a bastard...” (emphasis in original) [5]Later screeningsThe film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.[6] Kenneth Lone Eagle is a Native American educator who describes May as a "mixed month in the media" for "his people."Like other Native Americans, Lone Eagle, 58, who was born and raised in Gary, was angered after it was announced earlier this month the U.S. military used the code name "Geronimo" as the tag for Osama bin Laden, linking the Apache icon with world's most notorious criminal."It was inappropriate to link Geronimo, one of the greatest Native American heroes, with one of the most hated enemies of the United States," said Loretta Tuell, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee."These inappropriate uses of Native American icons and cultures are prevalent throughout our society, and the impacts to Native and non-Native children are devastating."And then, just a few days later, actor Johnny Depp, as quoted in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, unknowingly helped ease some of the tension by explaining why he agreed to be cast as Tonto in the feature film treatment of "The Lone Ranger" in development with his "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski.
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Valparaiso tornado confirmed as county calls state in for help"I remember watching it as a kid, with Jay Silverheels and Clayton Moore, and going 'why is the Lone Ranger telling Tonto what to do?'" Depp said in the magazine interview."I liked Tonto, even at that tender age, and knew Tonto was getting the unpleasant end of the stick here. When the idea came up (for the movie), I started thinking about Tonto and what could be done in my own small way to try to reinvent the relationship to attempt to take some of the ugliness thrown on the Native Americans, not only in 'The Lone Ranger' but the way Indians were treated throughout the history of cinema."Long before Depp's interview, Lone Eagle was heading his own campaign to preserve Native American pride and heritage.His uncle and namesake was Chief Lone Eagle, of Hammond, a popular wrestler who was world heavyweight champion from 1948 to 1952."After my uncle died 22 summers ago in 1989, I continued the mission he began," said Lone Eagle, who now lives in Knox, in Starke County."The image of Native Americans and the importance of this culture needs to be saved and shared for future generations."Lone Eagle has amassed a collection of authentic items of Native American cultural significance ranging from artifacts and attire to the elaborate headdresses called "war bonnets."He even has the famed feathered headband that belonged to Depp's predecessor — Silverheels, who played Tonto on the "The Lone Ranger" TV series. Silverheels died in 1980.Lone Eagle has the heavy riding gloves, called gauntlets, that belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody.Most of the items are housed in the Rochester Historical Museum in Rochester, Ind., which allows Lone Eagle access to the displays when he travels for educational presentations.Much of the collection, and some of the details of his historical knowledge about his heritage, came from his adoptive Native American father, Basil Heath, known in films and on television as Chief White Eagle.Heath, who died at age 93 in January in Rochester, gave Lone Eagle access to his large collection, which Lone Eagle now shares with the museum."Chief White Eagle hosted his own children's PBS TV show in the 1960s in Chicago called 'The Totem Club,' but he was most famous for the Western movies he starred in with his friend John Wayne," Lone Eagle said."He used to like to tell people he was the only man John Wayne killed seven times on the big screen in different films."Lone Eagle, who also worked for many years for the Lake Station Camp 133 Volunteer Fire Department, said opinions are beginning to change.Unlike years past, Lone Eagle believes society is recognizing and respecting his culture."It's all about getting out and spreading the message," said Lone Eagle, who admitted he wouldn't mind his own opportunity in movies and entertainment."The more people know about my people, the more they understand and respect the stories of our generations."