Global InformationMohawk skywalkers information
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]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Daring Mohawk Ironworkers Featured in the 2015 Native American $1 Coin Design". United States Mint. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
- ^ "Haudenosaunee Guide for Educators" (PDF). National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 2024-06-04.