Chris Cheek: Keepers of the Eastern Door

NEW YORK CITY: as European settlers moved westward from the Atlantic coast of North America, the Mohawk people – the easternmost tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy – became known as “Keepers of the Eastern Door” for their role as guardians against invasion from the encroaching colonizers.

The outcome of that battle may seem inevitable from the historical perspective, but the tension at its heart, between those who respect and live in harmony with the land and those who view the Earth from a more rapacious perspective, persists.

In “The Kutenai Duck Hunter,” the image by photographer and ethnologist Edward Curtis that graces the cover of his breathtaking new album, Keepers of the Eastern Door, acclaimed saxophonist and composer Chris Cheek sees those two parallel mindsets represented in the reflection of a canoe in the river as its occupant looks to the horizon – and an uncertain future.

Let’s get to know the Keepers of the Eastern Door!