The Improved Order of Red Men
And a questionable statue erected in Mohawk Park
“I think there’s something off about that statue,” my friend said to me as we approached the roadside park.
We’d driven by the statue before, and now that we were making our return home, I’d ask to stop for a closer look. What had caught my eye earlier was this: a bronze statue of a man dressed in Native American attire with his hands raised to the sky, the beauty of the Berkshires behind him.
Nearby, a wooden sign bore the name of the statue, Hail to the Sunrise.
“The Improved Order of Red Men
Hail to the Sunrise
The Degree of Pocahontas”
At the site, out of the car, examining the statue up close, I read the plaque affixed to the base of the statue:
“Hail to the Sunrise
In memory of the
Mohawk Indian
The Mohawks of the five nations began to settle in New York state in 1590, and for 90 great suns they fought the New England tribes. The New York Mohawks that travelled this trail were friendly to the white settlers.
Erected by the tribes and councils
of the Improved Order of Red Men
October 1, 1932”
At this point in my investigation, I wasn’t sure who the Improved Order of Red Men were, but the phrasing of the plaque, specifically the assertion that the Mohawks were “friendly to the white settlers” raised my suspicions.
The area surrounding the statue is designated as Mohawk Park, and in addition to the statue, there is a memorial fountain and walk.
The stones on the fountain and pathway provided further clues. They were attributed to the “Iroquois Tribe,” the “Sippican Tribe,” the “Tribal Great Council of California,” the “Agawam Tribe,” the “Capawonke,” etc. One stone read, “God Bless America.”
By the end of my visit, I still wasn’t sure whether the site was created by or in association with actual Native Americans groups. One thing was clear: I needed to research the Improved Order of Red Men.
Who were the Improved Order of Red Men?
Turns out, the Improved Order of Red Men is a fraternal organization created by and for white men. The Degree of Pocahontas, also mentioned on the signage in Mohawk Park, is the female auxiliary of the group. The organization still exists today, but membership has declined significantly since the statue was erected in 1934 (from ~520,000 in 1921 to ~32,000 in 1978 according to Wikipedia).
The organization traces it ties back to the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party where white men who participated in the protest disguised themselves as Mohawks before boarding the ships to spill tea into Boston Harbor. The Sons of Liberty, who were involved in the Revolution, and other fraternal organizations like the St. Tamina Society and the Society of Red Men consolidated in 1834 to become the Improved Order of Red Men. Another marker in the park, a bench, states that the organization was granted a charter by Congress “to inspire fraternity and greater love of the principles of American liberty.”
The Improved Order of Red Men uses Native American terminology and dress in their organization and rituals, hence all the tribes that are referenced on the fountain and memorial walk. Below is the cover of a program for a concert offered by one of the “tribes” in 1888.
Who is being honored at Mohawk Park?
It turns out that my friend’s feeling that there was something “off” about the statue was warranted. This park claims to be paying tribute to the Native Americans, but it was established by an organization that both appropriated Native American culture and excluded non-white people until 1974.
The memorial plaques at the park certainly speak to the wide influence of the fraternal organization. States from around the country are represented. The memorials there also speak to the devotion of its members. Several markers named specific individuals.
I imagine some of the men who were part of the order and established the park sincerely believed they were paying tribute to the Native American groups whose identities they co-opted. They may have even seen adopting these customs as a way to bridge the divide between white and Native Americans. I’d be curious to learn to what extent members of the Improved Order of Red Men actually interacted with Native people.
We’re heading into Thanksgiving next week, and I present this post today as food for thought.
How did the efforts of the Improved Order of Red Men to pay tribute to the Mohawk, who were “friendly to the white settlers,” gloss over or obscure the true history of the region?
The Improved Order of Red Men was established to “inspire greater love of the principles of American liberty” but what did American liberty mean for Native Americans?
Oh yeah, Improved Order of the Red Men, definitely a bunch of white dudes. Yuck.