To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey

2009 VisionMaker Film Festival home

 (56 minutes), Release Date: 2009, Filmmaker: Reaghan Tarbell            

To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey is an hour-long documentary about the personal story of Mohawk filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell from Kahnawake, Quebec as she explores her roots and traces the connections of her family to the Mohawk community in Brooklyn, New York.

For over 50 years, the Kahnawake Mohawks of Quebec, Canada occupied a 10 square block area in the North Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which became known as Little Caughnawaga. The men, skilled ironworkers, came to New York in search of work and brought their wives, children and often, extended family with them. The story of the Mohawk ironworkers is an important one and is one that has been told and continues to be told through documentaries, newspaper and magazine articles. Yet the stories of Kahnawake Mohawk women who lived in Brooklyn have gone untold.

A common misconception is that the women simply followed their ironworker husbands to the city. The truth is many left the reserve by themselves to find work in Brooklyn, just like the Mohawk men. Reaghan's late grandmother, Ida Meloche, was one of them. At the age of 16, Ida moved to Brooklyn with her elderly mother in search for work and a "golden opportunity.

As a matriarchal people, Kahnawake women were responsible for creating and maintaining a Mohawk enclave in the middle of a bustling, diverse city. As mothers, keepers of the home and the children, they were often the bread winners themselves during the hard times when work was slow. Today, Reaghan works in New York City and lives in Brooklyn, just a few blocks away from the legendary Mohawk community that she heard stories about while growing up in Kahnawake. The women who built this community were her grandmothers, aunts and other relatives, which she feels proud of their accomplishments to tell their stories in this documentary.

The contributions and stories of the Mohawk women who were instrumental in the creation of Little Caughnawaga will be told through interviews, archival photos, home movies and their visit to the old neighborhood. The story also unfolds through the perspective of the director, a young Mohawk woman. Directed by Reaghan Tarbell from Kahnawake, this documentary was produced by Mushkeg Media Inc. in English with French and Mohawk language versions.

The VisionMaker Film Festival for 2009 has ended. You can still watch this film on public television link: http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder or buy the DVD at VisionMaker Video http://visionmaker.semkhor.com.