Kanien’kehá:ka
 |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Canada (Quebec, Ontario)
|
23,682 |
 United States (New York)
|
5,632 |
| Languages | |
|
English, Mohawk, French, Formerly: Dutch, Mohawk Dutch |
|
| Religion | |
| Karihwiio, Kanoh'hon'io, Kahni'kwi'io, Christianity, Longhouse, Handsome Lake, Other Indigenous Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Seneca Nation, Oneida Nation, Cayuga Nation, Onondaga Nation, Tuscarora Nation, other Iroquoian peoples | |
The Mohawk people (who identify as Kanien'kehá:ka) are the most easterly tribe of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking indigenous people of North America. The Mohawk were historically based in the Mohawk Valley in present-day upstate New York west of the Hudson River; their territory ranged north to the St. Lawrence River, southern Quebec and eastern Ontario; south to greater New Jersey and into Pennsylvania; eastward to the Green Mountains of Vermont; and westward to the border with the Iroquoian Oneida Nation's traditional homeland territory. As one of the five original members of the Iroquois League, the Mohawk were known as the Keepers of the Eastern Door. For hundreds of years, they guarded the Iroquois Confederation against invasion from that direction by tribes from the New England and lower New York areas. Their current major settlements include areas around Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River in Canada and New York.
In the Mohawk language, the people say that they are from Kanien'kehá:ka or "Flint Stone Place". The Mohawk became 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 Haeek Ing (Food Area Place), a name transliterated by the Dutch as Mohican or Mahican, referred to the People of Ka-nee-en Ka as Maw Unk Lin (meaning Bear People). The Dutch heard and wrote this term as Mohawk, and also referred to the Mohawk as Egil or Maqua.
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Wikipedia