On the basis ofan analysis often years' coverage of a Mohawk/white conflict in upstate New York, this article suggests that media discourse plays a constitutive function in political action. Iargue that byframing the Mohawk activists in terms ofAmerican notions ofethnicity and Indian traditionalism, the press contributed to tensions among various actors in the conflict served the interests of the New York State government and played an important role in the Indian "invention of tradition." [political movements, media, Indian-white relations, American culture, invention of tradition]
