page_title: Mohawk language
hierarchical_section_title: Mohawk language
caption_attribution_description: English: distribution of Mohawk speakers
context_page_description: Mohawk is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation, located primarily in Canada, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and to a lesser extent in the United States. The word "Mohawk" is an exonym. In the Mohawk language, the people say that they are from Kanienʼkehá꞉ka or "Flint Stone Place" or "People of the Flint Nation".
  The Mohawks were extremely wealthy traders, as other nations in their confederacy needed their flint for tool-making. Their Algonquian-speaking neighbors, the People of Muh-heck Heek Ing, a people called by the Dutch "Mohicans" or "Mahicans", called the People of Ka-nee-en Ka "Maw Unk Lin" or Bear People. The Dutch heard and wrote that as "Mohawks" and so the People of Kan-ee-en Ka are often referred to as Mohawks. The Dutch also referred to the Mohawk as Egils or Maquas. The French adapted those terms as Aigniers or Maquis, or called them by the generic Iroquois.
context_section_description: Mohawk (/ˈmoʊhɔːk/; Kanienʼkéha, "[language] of the Flint Place") is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation, located primarily in Canada  (southern Ontario and Quebec), the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and to a lesser extent in the United States (western and northern New York). The word "Mohawk" is an exonym. In the Mohawk language, the people say that they are from Kanienʼkehá꞉ka or "Flint Stone Place" or "People of the Flint Nation". 
  The Mohawks were extremely wealthy traders, as other nations in their confederacy needed their flint for tool-making. Their Algonquian-speaking neighbors (and competitors), the People of Muh-heck Heek Ing ("food-area place"), a people called by the Dutch "Mohicans" or "Mahicans", called the People of Ka-nee-en Ka "Maw Unk Lin" or Bear People. The Dutch heard and wrote that as "Mohawks" and so the People of Kan-ee-en Ka are often referred to as Mohawks. The Dutch also referred to the Mohawk as Egils or Maquas. The French adapted those terms as Aigniers or Maquis, or called them by the generic Iroquois.
caption: current distribution of Mohawk speakers in the United States.
exif: {}