Canajoharie (), also known as the "Upper Castle", was the name of one of two major towns of the Mohawk nation in 1738. The community stretched for a mile and a half along the southern bank of the Mohawk River, from a village known as ''Dekanohage'' westward to what is now

Fort Plain, New York Fort Plain is a village in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 2,322. The village is named after a fort built during the American Revolution at the junction of the Mohawk River and its t ...

.Dean R. Snow and David B. Guldenzopf
"Indian Castle Church"
. Accessed August 23, 2009. The Upper Castle historic district has been designated as a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It contains the Indian Castle Church, built in 1769 for the Mohawk by Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on land donated by his consort Molly Brant and her brother

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...

, both leaders among the Mohawk. The site also has

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

resources related to Iroquois history. For a time the town was the home of the notable Mohawk leaders Hendrick Theyanoguin (1692–1755) and the Brants. According to Joseph Brant, ''Canajoharie'' means "a kettle stuck on a pole." A modern etymology translates it as "a washed kettle" or "the pot that washes itself". It refers to swirling actions of water in a large circular pothole in the Canajoharie Creek near where it empties into the Mohawk River. The modern village of

Canajoharie, New York Canajoharie () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Montgomery County, New York, Montgomery County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 3,730 in 2010. Canajoharie is located south of the Mohawk River o ...

was settled by European Americans a few miles to the east of the historic Mohawk village.Dean R. Sno
"Searching for Hendrick: Correction of a Historic Conflation"
. ''New York History'', History Cooperative, Summer 2007. Accessed August 23, 2009.

In popular culture

Referenced by They Might Be Giants in their album '' Join Us.'' Referenced in book, "Tell the Bees That I am Gone" Chapters 83 and 85 by Diana Gabaldon, 2022.

References

Former Native American populated places in the United States Former populated places in New York (state) Iroquois populated places Mohawk tribe {{NorthAm-native-stub

In popular culture

See also

References