Mohawk Bible Comes to Fruition

                                                                              

                                                          Harvey Satewas Gabriel

Back in May I shared a news release from the United Church of Canada about the impending publication of a Mohawk language bible, a first. That day has arrived and there have been a number of articles about the translator and the task. 

Harvey Satewas Gabriel's mother was a Residential School survivor who was forbidden to speak Mohawk with her classmates on fear of punishment, but they would sneak away to the fenceline to converse with others. Eventually she taught her children the language to her children and now Henry has completed a labour of love which has spanned decades. The United Church and the Canadian Bible Society have provided funds to bring this to fruition. 

Here are some excerpts from a a Globe and Mail article about this project. God bless Henry, and thank you to the United Church and the Bible Society for these practical contributions to reconciliation and respect. It would be a meaningful gesture for churches in this area to help fund the purchase of copies of the new bible for congregations at nearby Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

 Harvey Satewas Gabriel still remembers the first time he heard a preacher read Bible passages in the Mohawk language back in the 1950s. He watched the United Church minister open the book and translate the Scripture into Mohawk straight off the page as he read, the words sounding like “honey” to the then-17-year-old from Kanesatake, Que. 

Gabriel went home and asked his mother why there was no Mohawk Bible. She said, “That’s a big project, who’s going to translate that?” he recalls. 

That conversation would spark a decades-long passion that culminates this fall with the publication of a complete Mohawk-language Bible – most of it translated by Gabriel himself. 

The 83-year-old estimates it took him about 17 years, on and off, to complete the translation, including 58 books he translated single-handedly. 

Gabriel said that early conversation with his mother stuck with him. However, it wasn’t until around 1980 that he first started translating Bible passages, when he was asked to give readings in Mohawk at his church, Kanesatake United... 

The newly printed Bible has a purple cover – the colour of the Iroquois Confederacy flag – and an illustration depicting the turtle, wolf and bear clans. The title reads “Ohiatonhseratokénti” – a word Gabriel says means “holy pages.”... 

Susan Gabriel connected with the United Church of Canada Foundation, who stepped in with funding to help with the final translation, proofreading, layout and printing. 

Royal Orr, a board member for the foundation, said he believes the Mohawk Bible is one of only a handful of complete Indigenous-language Bible translations. The fact that Gabriel translated about 80 per cent of it himself – with support from his wife and others – is a sign of his “diligence, dedication and faith,” as well as his remarkable artistry, he said.