Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1901 — OF MOHAWK INDIANS. [ARTICLE]

OF MOHAWK INDIANS.

TO HAVE NEWSPAPER IN THEIR OWN TONGUE. The Editor la the Son es a Mohawk (Thief Who Wat Educated at Gorerament Schools—Specimen Paragraph from the Paper. The Mohawks of Canada and New York state are to have a newspaper. It will he edited by Charles A. Cooke, a full-blooded Indian employed In the department of Indian affairs at Ottawa, says an Ottawa correspondent of the New York Srin. Some time ago Cooke began publishing the Onkweonwe, a semi-monthly magazine, printed in the Mohawk language, and it was so successful that he has decided to turn it into a newspaper, the first of its kind in Canada and the second In America. There are other Indian publications not newspapers, but the ma% Jority of them are issued by missionary societies and they are edited by white men. The Cherokee Advocate, published in Indian Territory, is the only other Indian newspaper in North America. The Onkweonwe will publish some'telegraphic news from different parts of the world, market news and reports of prices of fttrs, skins, fish, etc., and will have an inquiry department, which will be one of its leading features. Editor Cooke is the son of a Mohowk chief and was educated at government schools and afterward took a course iri a Canadian college. When he had been graduated he got a clerkship in the Indian department. He is a dark-skinned young man, with pronounced Indian features. He is a good singer and is a member of the choir of the leading Methodist church in Ottawa. Two other Mohawk Indians, Miss Maracle and Joseph Delisle, are employed in the same room with Mr. Cooke. All are well educated. Few of the Indians oan read English, but about 10,000 are able to read anything printed in the Mohawk dialect. The Mohawk alphabet consists of twelve letters and n and k are used much oftener than any of the others. An ordinary eight-page issue of the Onkweonwe contains about onequarter n’s and k’s. For this reason the editor has had some difficulty in getting his copy set up, as the printer soon runs out of n’s and k’s. English characters are used. Here is a specimen paragraph from the Onkweonwe: “KONO'NKWE AOTIRIWASONHA. “lakonnewata iaiakoseke enska netens teken ‘minit’ jlnikariwes ononwarejerakerike tionekonties enska me jiaiaiaksera tenwatiaseren senah jiienwakatsteke jieniontste.” When the Onkweonwe came out first many of the old cheifs objected to it. “The great Spirit, Gitchee Manitou the Mighty, says good Indians never read newspapers,” said they to tlie younger braves, but the paper became popular. Indians like to hear about the doings of the white men. When Editor Cooke started the paper he published incidents about the Indians, and soon letters were sent to him from his fellow braves saying, “Stop publishing news about the Indians; tell us about Laurier and others.” They did not object to the name Onkweonwe, which means in the Mohawk tongue, “the only human being,” or “the real human being,” in contradistinction to others who are looked upon as being less worthy of the name of man, or as lacking in qualities of manhood. “Onkwe” means a human being and would be applied to a paleface or to an Indian of another tribe. The addition of “onwe” is Mohawk for “the real thing.” The Mohawks are inquisitive. Among the questions Editor Cooke has had to answer are the following: “Why does the government try to control Indians?” “What is electricity?” “Who was Papineau? and what did he do?” “What is an Indian?” To the last question Mr. Cooke answered “An Indian is an Indian who has native blood in his veins, and who is on the reserved lands under the protection of the government.” The Onkweonwe recently published the following story about an Indian living near Eganville, not many miles from Ottawa: “Indian John, a celebrated Mohawk guide, who is now 80 years old, has been sleeping in his coffin for some months. John, although still a vigorous man, knows that he must soon leave for the happy hunting grounds, so some time ago he made himself a coffin and began sleeping in it. Since then he has used no other bed, and he has told his family that If death comes to him while he is lying in his coffin they are to put on the lid and bury him. Until the call comes John will continue to hunt in the land of the Mississaugus.