Iroquoian Languages - Family Division

Family Division

Southern Iroquoian

Cherokee

Northern Iroquoian

Lakes Iroquoian

Five Nations and Susquehannock

Seneca–Onondaga

Seneca–Cayuga

Seneca

Cayuga

Onondaga

Onondaga

Mohawk–Oneida

Oneida

Mohawk

Susquehannock

Susquehannock (extinct)

Huronian

Wyandot (Huron–Petun) (extinct)

Wenrohronon (extinct)

Neutral (extinct)

Erie (extinct)

Tuscarora–Nottoway

Tuscarora (seriously endangered)

Nottoway (extinct)

Unclear

Laurentian (extinct)

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 Wenrohronon, 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.