Iroquoian languages

Last updated

Iroquoian
Geographic
distribution
Eastern North America
Ethnicity Iroquoian peoples
Linguistic classification One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language Proto-Iroquoian
Subdivisions
Language codes
ISO 639-2 / 5 iro
Glottolog iroq1247
Iroquoian langs.png
Pre-European contact distribution of the Iroquoian languages.

The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. [1]

Contents

As of 2020, almost all surviving Iroquoian languages are severely or critically endangered, with some languages having only a few elderly speakers remaining. The two languages with the most speakers, Mohawk (Kenien'kéha) in New York and Canada, and Cherokee in Oklahoma and North Carolina, are spoken by less than 10% of the populations of their nations. [2] [3]

Labeled map showing pre-contact distribution of the Iroquoian languages Iroquoian map close up.svg
Labeled map showing pre-contact distribution of the Iroquoian languages

Family division

— language extinct/dormant

Evidence is emerging that what has been called the Laurentian language appears to be more than one dialect or language. [4] Ethnographic and linguistic field work with the Wyandot tribal elders (Barbeau 1960) yielded enough documentation for scholars to characterize and classify the Huron and Petun languages.

The languages of the tribes that constituted the tiny Wenrohronon, [a] the powerful Conestoga Confederacy and the confederations of the Neutral Nation and the Erie Nation are very poorly documented in print. The Huron (Wyandot people) referred to the Neutral people as Atiwandaronk, meaning 'they who understand the language'. The Wenro and Neutral are historically grouped together, and geographically the Wenro's range on the eastern end of Lake Erie placed them between the larger confederations. To the east of the Wenro, beyond the Genesee Gorge, were the lands of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. To the southeast, beyond the headwaters of the Allegheny River, lay the Conestoga (Susquehannock). [5] The Conestoga Confederacy and Erie were militarily powerful and respected by neighboring tribes. [5] By 1660 all of these peoples but the Conestoga Confederacy and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy were defeated and scattered, migrating to form new tribes or adopted into others. The Iroquoian peoples had a practice of adopting valiant enemies into the tribe; they also adopted captive women and children to replace members who had died. [5]

The group known as the Meherrin were neighbors to the Tuscarora and the Nottoway (Binford 1967) in the American South. They are believed to have spoken an Iroquoian language but documentation is lacking.

External relationships

Attempts to link the Iroquoian, Siouan, and Caddoan languages in a Macro-Siouan family are suggestive but remain unproven (Mithun 1999:305).

Linguistics and language revitalization

As of 2012, a program in Iroquois linguistics at Syracuse University, the Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics for Language Learners, is designed for students and language teachers working in language revitalization. [6] [7]

Six Nations Polytechnic in Ohsweken, Ontario offers Ogwehoweh language Diploma and Degree Programs in Mohawk or Cayuga. [8]

Starting in September 2017, the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario started offering a credit course in Mohawk; the classes are to be given at Renison University College in collaboration with the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre, St. Paul's University College. [9]

See also

Notes

  1. Historical examination of the Jesuits records suggest that, following the Seneca conquest of Oil Spring in 1638, the Wenro may have had no more than three villages sandwiched between Buffalo and Rochester (i.e., between the Niagara and Genesee rivers). [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuscarora people</span> Indigenous Peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands

The Tuscarora are an Indigenous People of the Northeastern Woodlands in Canada and the United States. They are an Iroquoian Native American and First Nations people. The Tuscarora Nation, a federally recognized tribe, is based in New York, and the Tuscarora First Nation is one of the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyandot people</span> Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands in Canada and the U.S.

The Wyandot people are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of the present-day United States and Canada. Their Wyandot language belongs to the Iroquoian language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaver Wars</span> 17th c. wars between Hurons and Iroquois

The Beaver Wars, also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the Great Lakes region which pitted the Iroquois against the Hurons, northern Algonquians and their French allies. As a result of this conflict, the Iroquois destroyed several confederacies and tribes through warfare: the Hurons or Wendat, Erie, Neutral, Wenro, Petun, Susquehannock, Mohican and northern Algonquins whom they defeated and dispersed, some fleeing to neighbouring peoples and others assimilated, routed, or killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neutral Confederacy</span> Historic Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands

The Neutral Confederacy was a tribal confederation of Iroquoian peoples. Its heartland was in the floodplain of the Grand River in what is now Ontario, Canada. At its height, its wider territory extended toward the shores of lakes Erie, Huron, and Ontario, as well as the Niagara River in the east. To the northeast were the neighbouring territories of Huronia and the Petun Country, which were inhabited by other Iroquoian confederacies from which the term Neutrals Attawandaron was derived. The five-nation Iroquois Confederacy was across Lake Ontario to the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuscarora language</span> Extinct language

Tuscarora, sometimes called Skarò˙rə̨ˀ, is the Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people, spoken in southern Ontario, Canada, North Carolina and northwestern New York around Niagara Falls, in the United States before becoming extinct in late 2020. The historic homeland of the Tuscarora was in eastern North Carolina, in and around the Goldsboro, Kinston, and Smithfield areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erie people</span> Iroquoian group native to the Great Lakes

The Erie people were an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian-speaking tribe, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio before 1658. Their nation was almost exterminated in the mid-17th century by five years of prolonged warfare with the powerful neighboring Iroquois for helping the Huron in the Beaver Wars for control of the fur trade. Captured survivors were adopted or enslaved by the Iroquois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meherrin</span> Indigenous people

The Meherrin people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who spoke an Iroquian language. They lived between the Piedmont and coastal plains at the border of Virginia and North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands</span> Native peoples in Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States

Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands include Native American tribes and First Nation bands residing in or originating from a cultural area encompassing the northeastern and Midwest United States and southeastern Canada. It is part of a broader grouping known as the Eastern Woodlands. The Northeastern Woodlands is divided into three major areas: the Coastal, Saint Lawrence Lowlands, and Great Lakes-Riverine zones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susquehannock language</span> Iroquoian language spoken in eastern US

Susquehannock, also known as Conestoga, is an extinct Iroquoian language spoken by the Native American people variously known as the Susquehannock or Conestoga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurentian language</span> Extinct branch of the Iroquoian language family

Laurentian, or St. Lawrence Iroquoian, was an Iroquoian language spoken until the late 16th century along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada. It is believed to have disappeared with the extinction of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians, likely as a result of warfare by the more powerful Mohawk from the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy to the south, in present-day New York state of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Lawrence Iroquoians</span> Indigenous people of east-central North America (c. 1300s to 1580)

The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were an Iroquoian Indigenous people who existed until about the late 16th century. They concentrated along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and in the American states of New York and northernmost Vermont. They spoke Laurentian languages, a branch of the Iroquoian family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottoway people</span> Native American tribe in Virginia, US

The Nottoway are an Iroquoian Native American tribe in Virginia. The Nottoway spoke a Nottoway language in the Iroquoian language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petun</span> North American ethnic group

The Petun, also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati, were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the woodlands of eastern North America. Their last known traditional homeland was south of Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, in what is today's Canadian province of Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wenrohronon</span> Iroquoian indigenous nation of North America

The Wenrohronon or Wenro people were an Iroquoian indigenous nation of North America, originally residing in present-day western New York, who were conquered by the Confederation of the Five Nations of the Iroquois in two decisive wars between 1638–1639 and 1643. This was likely part of the Iroquois Confederacy campaign against the Neutral people, another Iroquoian-speaking tribe, which lived across the Niagara River. This warfare was part of what was known as the Beaver Wars, as the Iroquois worked to dominate the lucrative fur trade. They used winter attacks, which were not usual among Native Americans, and their campaigns resulted in attrition of both the larger Iroquoian confederacies, as they had against the numerous Huron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protohistory of West Virginia</span> Protohistorical period

The protohistoric period of the state of West Virginia in the United States began in the mid-sixteenth century with the arrival of European trade goods. Explorers and colonists brought these goods to the eastern and southern coasts of North America and were brought inland by native trade routes. This was a period characterized by increased intertribal strife, rapid population decline, the abandonment of traditional life styles, and the extinction and migrations of many Native American groups.

Proto-Iroquoian is the theoretical proto-language of the Iroquoian languages. Lounsbury (1961) estimated from glottochronology a time depth of 3,500 to 3,800 years for the split of North and South Iroquoian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottoway language</span> Extinct Native American language of Virginia

Nottoway, also called Cheroenhaka, is an extinct language spoken by the Nottoway people. Nottoway is closely related to Tuscarora within the Iroquoian language family. Two tribes of Nottoway are recognized by the state of Virginia: the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia and the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe. Other Nottoway descendants live in Wisconsin and Canada, where some of their ancestors fled in the 18th century. The last known speaker, Edith Turner, died in 1838. The Nottoway people are undertaking work for language revival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erie language</span> Iroquoian language

Erie is an extinct language, believed to have been Iroquoian, similar to Wyandot, formerly spoken by the Erie people. It was poorly documented, and linguists are not certain that this conclusion is correct. There have been few connections with Europeans and the Erie's with the French, and Dutch being peaceful, while the English being mostly hostile.

Neutral or Neutral Huron was the Iroquoian language spoken by the Neutral Nation.

References

  1. Mithun, Marianne. "Grammaticalization and Polysynthesis: Iroquoian" (PDF). Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz . Archived from the original (PDF) on February 14, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  2. "UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". unesco.org. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  3. "Iroquoian Languages". languagegeek.com. February 22, 2008. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  4. "Laurentian Language and the Laurentian Indian Tribe (Stadaconan, Kwedech, Hochelagan)". www.native-languages.org. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Alvin M. Josephy Jr., ed. (1961). The American Heritage Book of Indians. American Heritage Publishing Co. pp. 188–219. LCCN   61-14871.
  6. "Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics for Language Learners". University College. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  7. Gale Courey Toensing (September 2, 2012). "Iroquois Linguistics Certificate at Syracuse University Comes at Important Time for Native Languages". Indian Country Today Media Network. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  8. "University Program". Six Nations Polytechnic. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  9. Bueckert, Kate (August 17, 2017). "Mohawk language course to be offered for 1st time at UW". CBC News. Retrieved August 17, 2017.

Further reading

Linguistics

  • Barbeau, C. Marius (1960), Huron-Wyandot Traditional Narratives in Translations and Native Texts, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 47; Anthropological Series 165, [Ottawa]: Canada Dept. of Northern Affairs and National Resources, OCLC   1990439 .
  • Binford, Lewis R. (1967), "An Ethnohistory of the Nottoway, Meherrin and Weanock Indians of Southeastern Virginia", Ethnohistory, vol. 14, no. 3/4, Ethnohistory, Vol. 14, No. 3/4, pp. 103–218, doi:10.2307/480737, JSTOR   480737 .
  • Chilton, Elizabeth (2004), "Social Complexity in New England: AD 1000–1600", in Pauketat, Timothy R.; Loren, Diana Dipaolo (eds.), North American Archaeology, Malden, MA: Blackwell Press, pp. 138–60, OCLC   55085697 .
  • Goddard, Ives, ed. (1996), Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 17: Languages, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, ISBN   0-16-048774-9, OCLC   43957746 .
  • Lounsbury, Floyd G. (1978), "Iroquoian Languages", in Trigger, Bruce G. (ed.), Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 334–43 [unified volume Bibliography, pp. 807–90], OCLC   58762737 .
  • Martin, Scott W. J. (July 2008). "Languages Past and Present: Archaeological Approaches to the Appearance of Northern Iroquoian Speakers in the Lower Great Lakes Region of North America". American Antiquity. 73 (3). Cambridge University Press: 441–463. doi:10.1017/S0002731600046813. JSTOR   25470499. S2CID   151035122.
  • Mithun, Marianne (1984), "The Proto-Iroquoians: Cultural Reconstruction from Lexical Materials", in Foster, Michael K.; Campisi, Jack; Mithun, Marianne (eds.), Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies, Albany: State University of New York Press, pp.  259–82, ISBN   0-87395-781-4, OCLC   9646457 .
  • Mithun, Marianne (1985), "Untangling the Huron and the Iroquois", International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 51, no. 4, University of Chicago Press, pp. 504–7, doi:10.1086/465950, JSTOR   1265321, S2CID   143896562 .
  • Mithun, Marianne (1999), The Languages of Native North America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN   0-521-23228-7, OCLC   40467402 .
  • Rudes, Blair A. (1993), "Iroquoian Vowels", Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 16–69.

General works