An excerpt  from Skydancer, Katja Esson’s documentary about the Mohawk construction workers who help build New York’s skyscrapers:

Jerry McDonald Thundercloud (Native American accent)

There’s this myth out there that “Mohawks are fearless, they’re fearless, we can walk anything, you know, they can go up there, you know, and they can run around like... and walk up they’re like they’re on a sidewalk. Mohawks don’t get scared!” Well, I say that’s a myth ‘cause this one does get scared! 

(Talking)

The connectors are the first ones to touch the steel, to erect them, to position, and to set the beams.

(Talking)

You’ve got to have the guts for it, it’s not just for anybody. So it’s... it’s almost like a special breed.

I don’t think any Mohawk that comes to New York City feels like he’s at home. A lot of ironworkers are not comfortable anywhere unless they’re 40 stories up in the air, ‘cause that’s what they’re accustomed to. And, once you’re up in the air, especially when you’re connecting, everything is in the open, I guess from an eagle’s perspective...

I’m from Akwesasne, which is the Mohawk reservation. It’s kind of secluded because we’re six hours up into upstate New York and Canada,  on the north side of the Adirondack Mountains.

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