Standard · version 2.0

The mohawk.txt standard

What a mohawk.txt must, should and may do, in the manner of the internet’s own standards. “Must” is required; “should” is expected unless there is good reason; “may” is up to you.

the rules#

must	The file is named mohawk.txt, in lower case, and saved as UTF-8 text.
must	It sits at the root of the website, /mohawk.txt.
must	Every line is either a note, beginning with #, or a field, written Field: value.
must	It carries the Nation’s lines exactly as published, word for word.
must	It has an Expires date no more than a year ahead, and is renewed before then.
may	Notes may carry drawings made of characters, as the best humans.txt files do, kept within 78 columns so they read anywhere.
should	A copy sits at /.well-known/mohawk.txt.
should	It is split by three notes: # --- SITE ---, # --- NATION --- and # --- FILE ---.
should	The page head links to it: <link rel="author" type="text/plain" href="mohawk.txt">.
should	The footer links to it, with a mohawk.txt logo.
should	It has a Canonical line: the file’s own true address.
may	It adds Preferred-Languages, and any further fields of the site’s own, after the Nation’s lines.

the fields#

Field	What it says	Whose
`Site-Owner`	Who runs the website.	Yours	must
`Site-Location`	Where you work, on the acquired territory.	Yours	should
`Site-Commitment`	What you are doing about it.	Yours	should
`Contact`	How to reach you: mailto: or https:.	Yours	must
`Nation`	The Nation’s name.	The Nation’s	must
`Territory`	The acquired territory and its bounds.	The Nation’s	must
`Basis`	The Pledge, 1779, and the Proclamation, 1784.	The Nation’s	must
`Posterity`	Who the promise was made to, and who inherits (1789, 1796).	The Nation’s	must
`Confirmed`	The confirmation of 24 December 1791.	The Nation’s	must
`Constitution`	Section 109, 1867; section 52, 1982.	The Nation’s	must
`Surrender`	Never surrendered, nor dedicated to public use.	The Nation’s	must
`Before-1784`	The peoples before: the Attawandaron; the Mississaugas.	The Nation’s	must
`Land-Acknowledgement`	The short acknowledgement, in full.	The Nation’s	must
`Land-Acknowledgement-Full`	The full version and its guide.	The Nation’s	must
`Check-An-Address`	“Is it in the Tract?”.	The Nation’s	must
`Source`	The Nation’s own file, for comparison.	The Nation’s	must
`Canonical`	Your file’s true address.	Yours	should
`Expires`	A date at most a year ahead.	Yours	must

the template#

Download the templateOr make it here

# mohawk.txt
# A digital marker of the Mohawk Nation of Grand River, version 2.0
# Standard: https://mohawktxt.org/standard.html
#
# Lines beginning with # are notes for people. "Field: value" lines are
# for people and machines alike, in the manner of security.txt (RFC 9116).
#
# Fill in the four lines marked [ ] under SITE, and the two under FILE.
# Or make yours in a minute at https://mohawktxt.org/make.html

# --- SITE ---
Site-Owner: [your name or your organisation]
Site-Location: [where you work], on the acquired territory of the Mohawk Nation of Grand River
Site-Commitment: [what you are doing about it]
Contact: [mailto:you@example.com]

# --- NATION ---
# Keep these lines exactly as they are: they are the acknowledgement.
Nation: Mohawk Nation of Grand River
Territory: Acquired territory: six miles on each side of the Grand River, from its mouth to its head
Basis: The Pledge, 7 April 1779; the Haldimand Proclamation, 25 October 1784
Posterity: Some of the Mohawks of Canajoharie, Tikondarago and Aughgugo, and their posterity (Dorchester Order in Council, 9 November 1789; Simcoe Proclamation, 6 April 1796)
Confirmed: 24 December 1791: the faith of the government pledged to the Mohawks of the Grand River, to uphold the honour of the Crown
Constitution: Constitution Act, 1867, s. 109 (an interest other than that of the Province, not a trust); Constitution Act, 1982, s. 52 (the supreme law of Canada)
Surrender: None. Never surrendered, nor dedicated to public use.
Before-1784: The Attawandaron (Neutral Nation), until 1651; the Mississaugas, who surrendered the land between the lakes to the Crown on 22 May 1784 (Treaty 3, 1792)
Land-Acknowledgement: The Mohawk Nation of Grand River holds its territory along the Grand River by acquisition, not by ancestry. It was promised in 1779 to some of the Mohawks of Canajoharie, Tikondarago and Aughgugo who stood with the Crown, and proclaimed to them in October 1784, on land the Crown had taken by surrender from the Mississaugas that May. In 1791 the government pledged its faith to the Mohawks of the Grand River to uphold the honour of the Crown; section 109 of the Constitution Act, 1867 carried their interest into Canada’s constitution, and section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 protects it. Before them, the valley was used by the Mississaugas, and before them it was the homeland of the Attawandaron, the Neutral Nation, driven from it in 1651. The Nation has never surrendered its interest, nor dedicated any of it to public use. We say this plainly because our claim rests not on being first, but on what the Crown promised, proclaimed and confirmed, which is written, dated and signed, and is law in force today.
Land-Acknowledgement-Full: https://mohawkgrandriver.org/land
Check-An-Address: https://mohawkgrandriver.org/land#tract
Source: https://mohawktxt.org/mohawk.txt

# --- FILE ---
Canonical: [https://your-website/mohawk.txt]
Expires: [a date at most a year ahead, e.g. 2027-11-01T00:00:00Z]

the versions#

1.0 · 2024	The first mohawk.txt: a digital marker of the Mohawk Nation’s territory, every line a note.
2.0 · 2026	Readable fields; the Nation’s land and constitutional acknowledgement inside; three sections; /.well-known/; Expires and Canonical; the Nation named exactly: the Mohawk Nation of Grand River.