Iroquoian languages
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Iroquois Geographic
distribution:eastern North America Linguistic classification: Iroquois Subdivisions: Northern Iroquois
ISO 639-2 and 639-5: iro 
Pre-European contact distribution of the Iroquoian languages.
The Iroquoian languages are a First Nation and Native American language family.
Family division
- Southern Iroquoian
- Northern Iroquoian
- Lakes Iroquoian
- Five Nations and Susquehannock
- Huronian
- Tuscarora–Nottoway
- Lakes Iroquoian
- Unclear
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- Laurentian (extinct)
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Scholars are finding that what has been called the Laurentian language appears to be more than one dialect or language.
In 1649 the tribes constituting the Huron and Petun confederations were displaced by war parties from Five Nations villages (Mithun 1985). Many of the survivors went on to form the Wyandot tribe. Ethnographic and linguistic field work with the Wyandot (Barbeau 1960) yielded enough documentation to be able to make some characterizations of the Huron and Petun languages.
The languages of the tribes that constituted the Neutral and the Erie confederations were very poorly documented. These groups were called Atiwandaronk meaning 'they who understand the language' by the Huron, and thus are historically grouped with them.
The group known as the Meherrin were neighbors to the Tuscarora and the Nottoway (Binford 1967) and may have spoken an Iroquoian language. There is not enough data to determine this with certainty.
External relations
Attempts to link the Iroquoian, Siouan, and Caddoan languages in a Macro-Siouan family are suggestive but remain unproven (Mithun 1999:305).
See also
- Proto-Iroquoian language
Bibliography
- Barbeau (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 (Ethnohistory, Vol. 14, No. 3/4) 14 (3/4): 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, 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 0160487749, OCLC 43957746.
- Lounsbury, Floyd G. (1978), "Iroquoian Languages", in Trigger, Bruce G., Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15: Northeast, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 334–43 [unified volume Bibliography, pp. 807–90], OCLC 58762737.
- Mithun, Marianne (1984), "The Proto-Iroquoians: Cultural Reconstruction from Lexical Materials", in Foster, Michael K.; Campisi, Jack; Mithun, Marianne, Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Iroquoian Studies, Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 259–82, ISBN 0873957814, OCLC 9646457.
- Mithun, Marianne (1985), "Untangling the Huron and the Iroquois", International Journal of American Linguistics 51 (4): 504–7, doi:10.1086/465950, JSTOR 1265321.
- Mithun, Marianne (1999), The Languages of Native North America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521232287, OCLC 40467402.
- Rudes, Blair A. (1993), "Iroquoian Vowels", Anthropological Linguistics 37 (1): 16–69.
Further reading
- Driver, Harold E. 1969. Indians of North America. 2nd edition. University of Chicago Press.
- Ruttenber, Edward Manning. 1992 [1872]. History of the Indian tribes of Hudson's River. Hope Farm Press.
- Snow, Dean R. 1994. The Iroquois. Blackwell Publishers. Peoples of America.
- Snow, Dean R.; Gehring, Charles T; Starna, William A. 1996. In Mohawk country: early narratives about a native people. Syracuse University Press. An anthology of primary sources from 1634-1810.
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Pre-Columbian North America
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Archaeological sites 
Angel Mounds – Bandelier National Monument – The Bluff Point Stoneworks – Cahokia – Chaco Canyon – Casa Grande – Coso Rock Art District – Eaker – Effigy Mounds National Monument – Etowah Indian Mounds – Eva – Folsom Site – Fort Ancient – Fort Center – Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument – Holly Bluff Site – Hopewell Culture National Historical Park – Kincaid Mounds – Kolomoki – Manitou Cliff Dwellings – Marksville – Meadowcroft Rockshelter – Mesa Verde – Moorehead Circle – Moundville – Mummy Cave – Nodena Site – Ocmulgee National Monument – Old Stone Fort – Parkin Park – Pinson Mounds – Portsmouth Earthworks – Poverty Point – Pueblo Bonito – Rock Eagle – Rock Hawk – Salmon Ruins – Serpent Mound – Spiro Mounds – SunWatch – Taos Pueblo – Toltec Mounds – Town Creek Indian Mound – Winterville
Miscellaneous Ballgame – Black drink – Buhl woman – Calumet – Chunkey – Clovis point – Container Revolution – Eastern Agricultural Complex – Eden point – Effigy mound – Falcon dancer – Folsom point – Green Corn Ceremony – Horned Serpent – Kennewick man – Kiva – Metallurgy – Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing – Medicine wheel – Mound builders – N.A.G.P.R.A. – Norse colonization of the Americas – Piasa – Pueblo dwellings – Southeastern Ceremonial Complex – Three Sisters agriculture – Thunderbird – Underwater panther
Related: Genetic history · Indigenous Portal of North America · Pre-Columbian era Categories:
- Iroquoian languages
- Indigenous languages of the North American eastern woodlands
- First Nations languages in Canada
- Languages of the United States
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Iroquoian languages — Family of about 16 North American Indian languages aboriginally spoken around the eastern Great Lakes and in parts of the Middle Atlantic states and the South. Aside from the languages of the Iroquois Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga … Universalium
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Iroquoian — ☆ Iroquoian [ir΄ə kwoi′ən ] n. [< IROQUOIS + AN: coined (1891) by J.W. Powell] 1. a family of North American Indian languages including Oneida, Mohawk, Huron, Tuscarora, and Cherokee 2. a member of any of the peoples speaking these languages… … English World dictionary
Iroquoian — Ir•o•quoi•an [[t]ˌɪr əˈkwɔɪ ən[/t]] n. 1) peo a family of American Indian languages, including Huron, the languages of the Iroquois Five Nations, and Cherokee, spoken or formerly spoken in the E Great Lakes region and parts of the eastern U.S 2)… … From formal English to slang
Iroquoian — /ir euh kwoy euhn/, n. 1. a family of North American Indian languages that includes Cherokee, Seneca, Mohawk, and Oneida. adj. 2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Iroquois people. 3. of or belonging to the Iroquoian family of languages … Universalium
Iroquoian language — noun a family of North American Indian languages spoken by the Iroquois • Syn: ↑Iroquoian, ↑Iroquois • Hypernyms: ↑Amerind, ↑Amerindian language, ↑American Indian language, ↑American Indian, ↑Indian … Useful english dictionary
Iroquoian — adj. of the group of American Indian peoples which inhabited North America and Canada; of the family of languages spoken by the Iroquois … English contemporary dictionary
iroquoian — n. family of North American Indian languages (including Mohawk, Cherokee, Seneca and Huron) spoken by the Iroquois American Indian peoples … English contemporary dictionary