AKWESASNE (WWNY) – You may have heard of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Thor. But have you heard of Kahhori? She’s Marvel’s newest superhero and she has roots in the north country.
Justin Cree is the director of the Akwesasne Cultural Center and for the past year has been looking forward to the debut of Marvel’s newest superhero, a Mohawk woman named Kahhori.
“When I first saw it, I thought, man, the kid who played X-Men out back with his little brother right on the St. Regis next to where supposedly a power stone fell into is amazing. If that little kid knew one day that his whole background was going to be the centerpiece for this show, it would have blown his mind,” he said.
Cree says the introduction of Kahhori not only shows accurate depictions of Akwesasne culture but also does something never done before with characters speaking the Mohawk language.
Cecilia King was the language supervisor for helping create Kahhori and says that her grandchildren are amazed by someone speaking their language.
“I think it’s become recently very important for the language to live and move on because really thinking about it, we’re losing our elders and so is the language going with them. So it’s very sad and we have to try and maintain what we have,” she said.
Cultural Supervisor Doug George-Kanentiio says that having a hero who accurately portrays Indigenous Americans is important for the Akwesasne community. He adds there are so many other Mohawk stories to explore.
“There are so many stories that we can tap into across the continent. It’s an enormous well of heroes and villains – amazing creatures whether it’s Sasquatch in the Northwest or the serpent beings in the Southeast,” he said.
Kahhori is featured in two episodes of the Marvel series What If and Akwesasne community members say they look forward to seeing what’s next with this character and how it can further shine a spotlight on the Mohawk and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy moving forward.