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The people we know today as "The Iroquois" are really six different tribes speaking different languages. Five of these are closely related to each other but certainly not the same: Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca and Cayuga. The sixth tribe, the Tuscarora, are also classed as "Iroquoian" but they originated much further south in North Carolina - they joined the other five tribes in 1722.

So there are really 6 Iroquois languages and also many others classed as Iroquoian.

These are the first five number words to illustrate the point:

English.......................Onondaga........................Seneca.......................Mohawk

one.............................sajadat............................skat............................enska

two.............................tekeni...............................tekni...........................tekeni

three...........................achso................................se-h...........................ahsen

four.............................gajeri................................kei..............................kaie:ri

five..............................wisk..................................wis..............................wisk

Answer

Every nation has its own language. (Don't confuse a nation - an ethnic group - with a state, a governmental territory.) "Iroquois" is a European attempt to represent an Indian word. It refers to both "Iroquoian languages" and a political unit, which its members called the Hodenosaunee, the "League of the Iroquois." This consisted of the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Odonaga, the Cayuga and the Seneca - and later, the Tuscarora. There were Iroquoian groups not in the League, such as the Huron.

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7y ago

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