Sachem Robert Hawk Storm Yawanawa-Bergin is the chief of the Schaghticoke First Nations whose mission is to preserve, promote and enrich the Schaghticoke peoples’ heritage; provide a safe learning environment for Schaghticoke descendants in their search for direction; and whenever possible, support those seeking harmony and a greater understanding of our collective responsibility as human beings. The word “Schaghticoke” means “the Mingling of Waters,” and signifies the merging of what remained of the Algonquin Nations in the Eastern Woodlands in 1676. Sachem Hawk Storm is a direct descendant of the great Pequot Chief Sassucus and Wampanach Schaghticoke Chief Gideon Mawehu and a hereditary leader of one the three remaining tribes of the Schaghticoke Nation. His life’s journey has been one of reclamation, re-indigenization, and reconnection to the land.

Since 2012, Sachem Hawk Storm has actively advocated for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and is the Schaghticoke’s main representative at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Under Sachem Hawk Storm's leadership, Schaghticoke First Nations has created a 501c3 and has reacquired land in the Schaghticoke ancestral territory to establish a Conservation and Cultural Center that will also promote decolonization and ago-forestry. Under the leadership of Sachem Hawk Storm, Schaghticoke First Nations works in close partnership with local indigenous communities throughout the northeastern U.S., as well as with other Indigenous Peoples from around the world.

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