Professor John Mohawk

'"Marxism, he argues, is the flip side of capitalism, not its opposite or its solution... Industrialism in capitalist, socialist or communist countries exists in a colonial relationship to Nature and to indigenous people."
JOHN MOHAWK WAS RIGHT.
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Rick Whaley remembers John Mohawk:

Author and Professor John Mohawk spoke at the first national Greens
gathering in Amherst, Massachusetts in July 1987. He provides, to my mind,
the most profound theoretical center for Green politics. Marxism, he
argues, is the flip side of capitalism, not its opposite or its solution.
While he recognizes the contributions the Left has made to fighting the
excesses of industrial capitalism (and the long tradition in radical culture
of deconstructing capitalism), Mohawk poises the wellspring of Green theory:
Industrialism in capitalist, socialist or communist countries exists in a
colonial relationship to Nature and to indigenous people.
The solution is a thorough Native or Green perspective, quite different
in its solutions—technological, spiritual, economic, educational, energy and
consumption—than that of Labor-Left allies. Mohawk is arguing that the
old-isms do not address the threat to the very biology of the planet — tears
in the ozone layer (cancers); acid rain (basic chemistry of plant roots
destroyed); global warming; chemicals disrupting reproduction. They can make
the unresolved 20th century issues of social class and distribution appear
moot.
[Milwaukee Greens used to give out to unreconstructed Leftists joining the
Green Party: John Mohawk’s "Marxism from a Native Perspective" (Akwesasne
Notes, Early Spring, 1981) where he raised this cornerstone (Green) thesis
on Industrial society.]
Also posted on the internet:
Editors' note: Indian Country Today is thankful for the early thoughts
shared below [and the first paragraph of this above posting] by former
editor Jose Barreiro, long-time friend and collaborator of John Mohawk.
Barreiro currently serves at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American
Indian.
"Mohawk, 61, was pronounced dead at his home in Buffalo on Dec. 12. He is
mourned by large numbers of people, expressing the most heartfelt
condolences to the family and close relatives of this beloved man of wisdom.
A longtime professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the
highly talented and engaging scholar was a motivating force in the Indian
traditionalist movement and the national and international indigenous
initiative of self-sufficiency and self-assertion of the contemporary era.
Mohawk's essays and speeches from the early 1970s, through his genial
direction of the national Indian newspaper, Akwesasne Notes, from 1976 to
1984, were pivotal contributions to the development of intellectual capacity
in the Indian movement. From his academic perch, Mohawk developed
enlightening university courses while sustaining a wide-ranging program of
writing and community educational and oratorical forays. In recent years, he
had been an opinion columnist for Indian Country Today.
Intensely steeped in the spiritual ceremonial traditions of the
Haudenosaunee people through his foundational longhouse culture at the
Cattaraugus Reservation in western New York, Mohawk was one of those rare
American Indian individuals who comfortably stepped out into the Western
academic and journalistic arenas. He was an enthusiastic participant in his
own traditional ways, a legendary singer and knowledgeable elder of the most
profound ceremonial cycles of the Haudenosaunee. As a scholar, he
represented the Native traditional school of thought in a way that was as
authentic as it was brilliantly modern and universal.
Mohawk wrote several important books and articles, among which is the
classic ''Basic Call to Consciousness,'' a seminal work that catalyzed
Native thinking and understanding of global history in a way that was
superbly useful. Later, along with Onondaga elder Oren Lyons, Mohawk edited
the important book ''Exiled in the Land of the Free,'' which gathered the
significant thinking around foundational American Indian rights. His
research and writing on ''Basic Call to Consciousness'' was typical of his
style as an activist scholar. It was largely written during the winter and
spring of 1977 in the deep woods of upstate New York, where the author was
often prodded by the visits of Haudenosaunee chiefs, clan mothers and other
elders, to whom he would read his developing prose and who would comment
deeply on the manuscript.
Many will credit John Mohawk as the major intellectual and strategic force
behind the surge of Haudenosaunee activism of the past 30 years. Many more
know and respect him for his many expressions on important national and
international issues. While he published and lectured widely, Mohawk
generously gave much of his intellectual prowess directly to community
issues. At moments when traditionalist life was threatened, he worked
diligently to establish strategic directions for the longhouse and other
traditionalist governments. One remembers many instances in which Mohawk
made a huge difference in dangerous moments of inter-ethnic and political
conflict. Many are the times when he forsook professional glory or
advancement to join the battle lines, where he employed his powerful
intellect to save life while always pressing the demand for Native peoples'
unique sovereign rights.
A strong defender of national and international human rights, Mohawk was a
mentor to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Indian and non-Indian college
students and young professionals, many of whom have gone on to fulfill
important posts. He was a great and loyal friend, one who could tease you to
tears while marveling your life with incredible sweetness, consistency and
human value.
John Mohawk was self-effacing to a fault. Easily admired and even revered,
he shunned and suspected any such feelings. This came out of his natural
deep integrity. He was wont to tell enraptured audiences, ''Remember one
thing, if you remember nothing else I've told you: I am not a star!''
He was wrong on that one. John Mohawk was - is - a star...."'

Zie ook: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414185