answersLogoWhite

0

Mohawk is not the real name of that Iroquois tribe, but like most of the names used today it is a derogatory name applied by the enemies of that tribe. Their real name is Kanien'gehaga - People of Flint.

The Narragansetts and Wampanoags to the south-east of the Mohawks called them Mohowaugsuck, meaning eaters of living things (people), from which Mohawk is derived. This was meant as an insult and may have been along the lines of "beware the monsters that live in the north-west" to frighten their own children.

There is no evidence that the Mohawks ever actually ate people, any more than the Wampanoags ate tree bark - the Mohawks called them ratirontaks, meaning "they eat trees". This is the origin of the modern place name Adirondacks.

Each group was simply hurling an insult at the other to reinforce inter-tribal hatred.

User Avatar

Wiki User

13y ago

What else can I help you with?