UB Will Hold Reflective Service in Memory of Mohawk

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo will will hold a retrospective and reflective memorial service for the late John C. Mohawk on April 30 from 3:30-7 p.m. in the Drama Theater and Atrium, Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The service will be open to the public.

Mohawk, a Seneca Indian of the Turtle Clan, died in December. He was an associate professor in the UB Department of American Studies, a respected leader of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy, and the author and editor of many works that helped to define the contemporary Haudenosaunee thought and philosophy.

A formal memorial program will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Drama Theater, followed by a multi-media presentation and a reception with refreshments from 5-7 p.m. in the center's atrium.

Mohawk's devotion to and work with the UB American Studies department brought national recognition to its programs and he was deeply respected and loved by his colleagues and students, past and present.

Barry J. White, lecturer in American studies, is also a member of the Seneca Turtle Clan and one of Mohawk's longtime friends.

He says, "Since Professor Mohawk passed into the spirit world in December, he has been deeply missed by the UB and Native American communities.

"This memorial service will be a celebration of his work and contributions to the two worlds in which he lived," he says, "and we are holding it in April because this is the university's commencement season, when we welcome the beginning of spring."