Late-summer sunlight glints off the water as I step onto a pontoon boat on the St. Lawrence River. As we glide alongside the invisible border that divides the U.S. and Canada, Chessie Thomas stands to identify the patchwork of land that surrounds us.
“To the right, that’s Québec,” she says. “Ontario is over there, and where you got on is New York State.” Her narration underscores the complex geography of Akwesasne, a Mohawk territory that stretches across one U.S. state and two Canadian provinces. The international border imposed on them, Thomas explains, “presents challenges to our everyday life.” But cruises with her company, Mohawk Journeys, don’t dwell on that.
Instead, Thomas says the company’s mission is to break stereotypes by taking visitors on river adventures that show how Indigenous peoples have shaped history even amid dispossession. As we motor past small islands and sheltered coves, she points out sites of early encounters between Mohawk and European people. Here, meetings took place that brought trade and conflict—and spread ideas about systems of checks and balances.
Mohawk Journeys is one of several Indigenous tourism operators helping to reshape how travelers understand history in this part of the continent—especially related to how the communities here laid the groundwork for U.S. democracy.
The centuries-old practices one of the world’s oldest democracies are still highly relevant today.
Courtesy of Mohawk Journeys
Seeing the roots of modern government along the St. Lawrence River
Throughout my travels in New York, Quebec, and Ontario, various guides tell firsthand stories about Indigenous peoples’ long presence in the region. The day after my boat ride, I visited the museum run by the Native North American Travelling College, a cultural center on the Ontario side of Akwesasne. The center frequently hosts exhibits and activities, including art workshops and demonstrations of traditional musical instruments, such as water drums.
My guide, Joyce King, leads me past artifacts, some of which influenced governments today. In addition to regalia, musical instruments, and contemporary skateboards adorned with Indigenous motifs, she shows me interpretive panels detailing Haudenosaunee history.
King tells me how the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Onondaga Nations formed the Haudenosaunee Confederacy sometime around the 13th century (the Tuscarora Nation also joined, in 1722). For centuries, the confederacy has operated under the Great Law of Peace, she says, which establishes a system of shared governance that many believe influenced the structure of the U.S. Constitution—an influence that Congress acknowledged in 1988.
King explains Haudenosaunee systems, such as the “older brothers” and “younger brothers” debate structure that balances power much as the U.S. House and Senate do. If chiefs fail to act ethically, “they’re taken out by the clan,” she says, or removed from their position, describing a model of accountability that sounds like impeachment. Some of these practices had an influence on Benjamin Franklin, King notes, which is well documented.
Weaving the lessons together today
I continue on to a slate of tours around the region offered by Akwesasne Travel, the community’s tourism arm. Visitors can make their own loom-beaded cuff at the studio of Kelly Back, who makes custom belts using the centuries-old technique that produced Haudenosaunee wampum belts, which were woven with mnemonic symbols to record history and agreements. You can also craft a black ash and sweetgrass woven bookmark with basket maker Carrie Hill and learn how a traditional wooden lacrosse stick is made. The Haudenosaunee invented lacrosse as a game to build unity, resolve conflict, and reinforce the values of cooperation, respect, and collective well-being.
Inside her Chill Baskets workshop, award-winning Mohawk artist Carrie Hill guides visitors through land-based arts, such as braiding your own sweetgrass and splint bookmark.
Courtesy of Akwesasne Travel
Looking back at Mohawk Journeys’ boating adventures, I think of other crucial Haudenosaunee beliefs I’ve learned about, like the Seventh Generation principle. The idea is founded in the belief that every decision made today should consider its effects on seven generations into the future. Today, Haudenosaunee descendants have applied this principle to how they treat surrounding nature.
For example, many guests of Mohawk Journeys go on night excursions along the St. Lawrence to see the stars. Others go camping on islands such as Clark Island, which can only be reached by boat. Such natural landscapes might not exist without the Haudenosaunee practices of cultural preservation, sustainability, and environmental stewardship of the river.
As I travel these lands throughout New York and Canada, visiting other Indigenous sites and joining tours and workshops, I think about the roots of—and perhaps a road map for—American democracy and values. Like the Great Law of Peace, travel itself should also be grounded in accountability, balance, and long-term responsibility.
Tours and activities in New York and Canada:
From the Adirondacks to Southern Ontario, here are places where you can weave bookmarks, play lacrosse, go on kayaking tours, try archery, and watch artisans at work, all while engaging with Haudenosaunee culture and perhaps feeling more connected to the environment and the communities that live there.
Dive into Haudenosaunee History at the Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center
Just outside Syracuse, New York, on the shores of Onondaga Lake, where the Haudenosaunee Confederacy was formed, the Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center preserves and shares Haudenosaunee culture, practices, and teachings, with an emphasis on the Onondaga Nation. Through oral history videos, artifacts, immersive exhibits, and guided interpretation, visitors learn about the Great Law of Peace, the founding nations, and their enduring cultural practices.
See ways of life that date back thousands of years at the Ganondagan State Historic Site in New York State.
Photo by Zack Frank/Shutterstock
Step inside a Longhouse at Ganondagan State Historic Site
Close to Rochester, New York, Ganondagan State Historic Site stands at the location of what was one of the Seneca Nation’s biggest towns until French forces destroyed it in 1687. Visitors can walk interpretive trails through the historic Seneca town site, explore exhibits at the Seneca Art & Culture Center, step inside a reconstructed bark longhouse (“Haudenosaunee” means “people of the longhouse”), and learn directly from Haudenosaunee voices through storytelling and seasonal cultural programs.
Paddle waterways and hike forest trails in the Six Nations of the Grand River
The most populated First Nations reserve in Canada, Six Nations of the Grand River represents all six Haudenosaunee Nations. An hour and a half drive from Toronto, visitors can book experience packages through Six Nations Tourism. Activities include following trails through one of North America’s last Carolinian forests, learning about traditional plant knowledge at the Kayanase Greenhouse and longhouse, and exploring exhibits at the Woodland Cultural Centre. In summer, outdoor activities include kayaking tours on the Grand River, lacrosse, and archery.
Learn about the Adirondacks’ Indigenous heritage at the Wild Center
In New York’s Adirondack region, The Wild Center weaves Indigenous perspectives into exhibits that highlight traditional ecological knowledge and the Adirondacks’ human history. Created in collaboration with Indigenous partners, including the Native North American Traveling College, exhibitions complement family-friendly activities such as walking the Wild Walk trail through the treetops to an elevated lookout inside an oversize bird’s nest. Also in the region, Mohawk artists demonstrate their work at the Adirondack Experience in July and August—part of the museum’s Indigenous Artist in Residence Program.
