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Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall is best known as an activist, artist, and writer of Iroquois Haudenosaunee history, culture, and tradition - specifically the Mohawk Nation. The Iroquois Confederacy is made up of six Nations: Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk and Tuscarora. The Confederacy was formed by the Great Peacemaker, Deganawida, who brought the original five nations together in one mind. It is the Iroquois Confederacy democracy example upon which the United States based their own government. The Tuscarora were brought in later but are none the less a part of the Confederacy. The Iroquois Confederacy inhabited territory across the New York state and moved toward Canada with the coming of the encroachment of the "American settlers". Raised within the Catholic Church, Louis Hall became disillusioned and turned to learning more about his traditional roots - that of the Longhouse of the indigenous peoples of North America. Teaching himself to draw and paint, Louis began depicting what he was learning into artwork with messages. Once well-versed in what he was learning, Louis began writing monthly newsletters and would continue writing newsletters for more than thirty years. Throughout his life, Louis Hall became involved with struggles of other Native peoples throughout the United States, Canada, and South America and would often meet with these people and listen to their concerns and offer advice and whatever else he could to support their efforts many times seeking the support of the Kahnawake Mohawk Longhouse and Warrior Society.

TOC

Early Years
Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall was born and raised on Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec, Canada on January 15, 1918 to Thomas Sarenhes Hall and Marianne Kanerahtakwas McGregor. Although his parents had nine children only four survived to adulthood. As a young boy, Louis was raised as a devout Catholic and was an enthusiastic altar boy for many years. He aspired to become a priest, but eventually became disillusioned with the church. Louis’ father, Thomas, died in 1948, leaving his mother, Mariann, to carry on maintaining the household despite her lack of formal education. With Louis’ help, because she did not speak English, she negotiated the move of the family home when the St. Lawrence Seaway was proposed to flood the area where thehouse stood at that time. Louis’ older brother, John, had married and moved to Brooklyn, New York where they had two children. As the oldest boy left at home, Louis went to work for the town butcher and learned how to slaughter and dissect meat. He also took on jobs as a stone mason once the houses were relocated and built many stone porches throughout town. The family home was one of the first to have indoor plumbing and modern bathroom with indoor toilet, tub, and sink. The family was also the first to obtain a P.O Box to receive mail. Their number was #1.

As a teenager, Louis’ hobby was lifting weights and wrestling. He housed his weights in the shed and would encourage anyone in town who wanted to wrestle with him. Working out for several hours a day, butchering heavy meat, and working as a stone mason, Louis became very strong and muscle bound but never stopped working out throughout his life.

In 1952, Louis’ only sister, Margaret, moved with her French Canadian partner to Brooklyn to join their brother and there they had their daughter. Louis’ youngest brother, Mike, soon joined their siblings in Brooklyn, leaving Louis alone to take care of their mother. Despite her lifelong animosity toward the Catholic religion, his mother turned to that religion shortly before her death in 1960. She was given a Catholic burial.

Career
After his mother’s death in 1960, Louis changed his life completely, leaving behind the Catholic church all together and becoming curious about Mohawk tradition. At that time, the Longhouse was taboo among the people – a secret society. He thought he was alone in his curiosity when he went to hide in the bushes to see what was going on at the Longhouse. He would later comment that as he sat quietly in the bushes, he began to see the burning ends of cigarettes all around him and realized there were others in the bushes trying to find out what the Longhouse was all about.

Fluent in Mohawk, Louis drew up his courage to openly become a student of the Longhouse and a supporter of the great Huron statesman, Deganawida, who through his message of the Great Law sought to unify all Indian Nations under one Great Confederacy. Louis sought ways that he might continue to bring Deganawida’s message throughout Mohawk communities. In the early 1960s, Louis began to teach himself how to draw and paint by studying the great artists like Da Vinci and Michelangelo. He prided himself on the fact that he never had a formal art class. Louis practiced his artwork every free moment he had and began to depict his women and men in traditional Iroquois dress and ensuring the people were healthy and strong looking. As he began to learn more about Deganawida and his teachings, Louis also began to write some of these teachings on his paintings so that they were more of a teaching vehicle. In 1969, Louis also began writing monthly newsletters for the Longhouse, distributing them to whoever might want to read them.

Louis became a thoughtful and serious leader in the Longhouse. He was greatly respected by the people of his Longhouse for his humility and dedication to the health and well-being of the Mohawk people. The Mohawks have three clans: Turtle, Bear and Wolf. Each clan has a particular duty to the community. The Turtle Clan are keepers of the land and water; the Bear Clan are nurturers of the health of the people and care for the plants and herbs for food and medicine; the Wolf Clan are caretakers of the safety of the people and ensure that no harm comes to anyone in the community. It is the Wolf Clan were the War Chief comes. At the time, there were not many representatives of the Wolf Clan within the Longhouse and he was asked by the clan mothers if he would be adopted into the Wolf Clan in order to serve as War Chief. He served 19 years as a Mohawk chief for the Wolf Clan.

Philosophy and Teachings
Louis Hall had completed his autobiography on the last day of his life. The book mysteriously disappeared from his apartment. His books and newsletters were self-published. His paintings, which were bequeathed to the Warrior Society, have also disappeared.

From the books and newsletters left behind, Louis Hall promoted the following teachings:


 * 1) •  That Indigenous people did not cross the Bering Strait and are the original people of the Americas;
 * 2) •  That the greatest American ever to live was Deganawida, who taught that all Natives should come together in order to defend themselves against genocide;
 * 3) •  That Natives must claim and preserve their sovereignty by discontinuing the use of the word “tribe/tribes" when referring to themselves their people.  He encouraged them to  refer to themselves as “Nations”.  Only Nations can belong to organizations such as the United Nations and only Nations can be recognized as sovereign entities;
 * 4) •  That Natives who protect their sovereignty and territory, have a right to defend themselves when those rights are being violated.  Every Nation has a police department and army by which to protect themselves and Louis felt every Native Nation should have their own defense department;
 * 5) •  That all Native Nations should have a flag which they can either design themselves, or adopt the one he created;
 * 6) •  That Natives must stop referring to their land as “reservations” and begin to call their land “territory”.  This change was to inspire Native people to value their lands and invest in the land rather than accept the reservation as a place they are permitted to live on by the United States;
 * 7) •  That Natives must return to their traditions, culture, and language.  If it is lost, he welcomed people to join the Mohawk or the Iroquois;
 * 8) •  That no Nation has the right to deny another Nation their tradition, culture, language, birthright, or property.
 * 9) •  Taught the Two Row Wampum philosophy whereby people of different heritage can live side by side without interference in each other’s way of life;
 * 10) •  That Natives should not agree to be being counted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs or any other government agency in order to be recognized as a citizen of a Native Nation;
 * 11) •  That Natives who chose to marry outside of their culture are diminishing and diluting the blood of their people – in other words – self-genocide.

Artwork and Writings
In addition to Louis Hall using his self-taught artistic talent to depict the traditional Iroquois lifestyle and history with dignity and pride, he also translated the works of the Iroquois Constitution – or Great Law – from the English version back into the Mohawk language which Louis said, “is the original language of the Iroquois.” Louis was also a prolific writer throughout the years, writing monthly newsletters and personal letters for more than 30 years, sending them to anyone who expressed an interest in what he had to say. All he asked was that those interested send him stamps to cover postage and if they were so inclined to send extra stamps for those who had not provided stamps. He also wrote several booklets entitled, “REBUILDING THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY,” “THE WARRIOR’S HANDBOOK,” and “THE HOLY BIBLE” – works which illustrate Louis’ conviction that native people must return to the traditional ways.

Activism and Mohawk Statesman
After a group of Longhouse members attempted to evict non-Mohawk residents from the community, riots broke out and several people were beaten and jailed. The Longhouse was met with a great deal of opposition from the Kahnawake community because many of those being asked to leave were owners of grocery stores and convenience stores. Without these places to shop, the community would have to go outside to by the simpliest of groceries. The Longhouse’s argument was that Mohawks were having to leave the territory to get decent paying jobs and young people were without homes because jobs were being held by non-Mohawk store owners and living in houses. In addition, non-Mohawks were enjoying living tax free on the territory. Having faced such opposition from their own people, in 1974, Louis Hall left Kahnawake with several like-minded Mohawk friends to regain land in upstate New York – the settlement known today as Ganienkeh. It was their goal to develop a community for themselves so that they could return to their traditional way of living, reintroduce the Mohawk language, and recapture a society that did not seem possible with the way people were thinking at that time in Kahnawake. Initially, the group attempted to settle at ________________, but there was a great deal of hostility from white communities and the group was faced with protests and, at times, gunfire.

After several confrontations and negotiations, the group was granted land by Governor Mario Cuomo and they have lived there ever since.

The Warrior Society


Louis Hall was in constant contact by other Native communities, some of which were poor and suffering from the ravages of alcoholism. He had seen art piece known as The End of the Trail by James Earle Fraser and found it offensive because he felt it was a symbol of defeat and that Natives should accept their “enslavement” This was completely unacceptable. Louis Hall believed in inspiring by being a role model and hoped to show by example how Natives could overcome this demoralization.

It was his belief that clan mothers elected chiefs because of their humility which was the most respected aspect of someone’s character. Other aspects of character was an ability to be an inspiring public speaker with an ability to persuade others; to be a good negotiator, and to think calmly and rationally before offering opinions and making decisions.

In his book, “The Warrior Society”, he hoped to inspire young men to defend the people against unwarranted intrusions on their territory.

Oka
In ____, in solidarity with a smaller Mohawk community known as Oka or Kanestake, the Kahnawake Warrior Society took action to close down the Mercier Bridge which runs through Kahnawake Territory and connects Chateuguay to Montreal. The confrontation lasted _______ days and while it was quite a violent action, it also became a turning point for the Territory. While Louis Hall had been vilified in earlier years for the things he stood for, because of this confrontation, the community came together since access to food and medication for them had also been limited due to protests taking place by the non-Mohawk communities surrounding Kahnawake. The community pulled their resources together and helped one another get through the struggle. Where many people had never spoken badly about their neighbors, they came to see the racism and violence being directed at them. They began to defend the protest and support the warriors. It was after this siege that Mohawk language emersion schools cropped up and the language, lost for at least two generations, was reignited.

Death


In 1985, Louis returned to his homeland, Kahnawake, due to health issues which required medical attention that was unaffordable in New York, but free in Canada. Having given up his home when he left in 1973 because he believed he would never return, Louis found himself homeless. Coincidently, there was a new Longhouse that had been built and he was able to move into the old Longhouse while he attempted to find someone who would sell him a piece of property or a farm. Unfortunately, he was not able to find anyone who wanted to sell their property, so he did end up living in various places.

On December 9, 1993, at the age of 75, Louis died in Kahnawake having finished the last page of his autobiography. He bequeathed his artwork to the Kahnawake Warrior Society in the hope that a museum would be built to continue his legacy. When the Warrior Society disbanded, the artwork was not returned to his family so a museum could be built. Instead, his artwork has been hidden away and pieces have been sold off for someone’s personal gain. Louis’ dream for a museum was never materialized. This book is a humble attempt to honor his work and keep it alive so whoever wants to see it can.

Legacy
Louis Hall was a prolific writer and artist. At his death, he left more than 60 works of art to the Warrior Society in the hopes that his message would live on and that a museum would be built. His family allowed the paintings to be taken as he wished, in the hope that they would fulfill his one dream, but to date, no museum has been built and no one really knows what ever happened to the paintings – or to the Warrior Society. The family would be happy to receive the paintings without question so that his wishes might still be fulfilled.

There are two great legacies – one of which does not seem to be attributed to Louis Hall – and that is the resurrection of the Mohawk language. The second legacy is one that is still seen today as the Mohawk flag still flies high whenever there is a struggle among the people. He created the artwork and actually revised it a few times until it became what it is today. He would be proud that the flag continues to stand with the people struggling to this day to defend and maintain their sovereignty. '''“My message is for all Indian Nations of North, Central and South America to gather into one big union or alliance. This was the aim of Deganawida, founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, which was sidetracked by the original Five Nations Confederacy who wanted power and authority for only five nations – a big and terrible mistake which all American Indians now suffer from. Had they followed the plan of Deganawida, there would now be a 200 or 300 nations confederacy with a territory of its own and subject to no power on earth.

'''I urge all Indians to return to their own national religions as the national religion is a force for unity and survival. Religion in many cases is more accurately a money making scheme. National survival is the most important issue for Indians and their national religion is a great force in that direction.”	'Italic text'' Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall – April, 1992