Thomas R. Porter (Sakokwenionkwas, meaning “The One Who Wins”) is the spokesperson and spiritual leader of the Mohawk Community of Kanatsiohareke (Ga na jo ha lay gay) in the Mohawk Valley near Fonda, New York, which he founded in 1993. He is a member of the Bear Clan of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. Also known as the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, Akwesasne straddles the New York State/Canadian border near Massena, New York.

Mr. Porter was also the director of the Akwesasne Freedom School and a teacher at both the Akwesasne Freedom and the Kahnawake Survival Schools, where he taught Mohawk language, philosophy, history and carpentry.

He organized the “White Roots of Peace,” a traveling multi-media communications group designed to revitalize Native traditions and beliefs in North America, and was the group’s main speaker, lecturing at various universities and colleges across the United States and Canada.

For ten years, Mr. Porter was also the Native American consultant for the New York State Penitentiary System and Chaplain for all of the Native inmates in the New York State Penal System. His office was located in Albany, New York, but he traveled all over the state to meet and confer with Native inmates, as well as to teach and help them conduct traditional ceremonies.

Mr. Porter has also authored various books and pamphlets, all of which teach about Mohawk traditions and spirituality.