Kahnawake Wampum Belt

Reproduction of the Kahnawake Wampum

In one of his best known books, the historian Ernst Gombrich wrote that "There really is no such thing as Art. There are only Artists." It is later generations that will decide the important works human craftsmanship. Moreover, judgements are subject to revision. Anyone familiar with the life and work of Johannes Vermeer or Rembrandt will no doubt be familiar with the vicissitudes of an artist's notoriety. So to speak of the Art of the Mohawk is difficult because the artwork they created was not intended to be conceived in the way a western European conceives of a Rodin, or a Picasso.

That is not to diminish the beauty they created. Their artwork was meant to be experienced intimately. Their creations gave color and joy to the life of the community. Consider the wampum belts made by the Haudenosaunee. These were not merely decorative. They formed an important part of clan, tribe, and league diplomacy. Early communications between the Mohawk and the Dutch describe a wampum belt that ties the two societies together.

In 1677, the Mohawks of Kahnawake were given a wampum belt by the Hurons of Lorette. The belt was given, according the the Jesuits, as an encouragement to the faith of the Mohawk community. Iconographically, it is important because it marries the symbolism of European Catholicism with Haudenosaunee tradition.