THE CAI^ADIAN JOUENAL. 



NEW SERIES. 



No. XC— APEIL, 1876. 



THE MOHAWK LANGUAGE. 



BY ORONHYATEKHA, 



OF TUB MOHAWK NATION. 



When I was requested to prepare a paper concerning the language 

 of my people, to be read before your learned body,- 1 readily assented, 

 not because I was not fully sensible of the difficulty of the task, or 

 that I was not painfully aware of my own inability to do a subject 

 of so much importance anything like full justice, but in the hope 

 that I may be able to contribute something which may prove of some 

 assistance to those who may hereafter institute inquiries in the same 

 direction. 



It will not be expected, in a short paper like this, that more can 

 be done than merely give a brief introduction to the subject in hand, 

 trusting that future opportunities may be affiarded to further prose- 

 cute our work. While it is the design to direct yovir attention 

 mainly to the language, it may not be amiss to give, at the outset, a 

 general outline of the history of the Mohawks. 



They are the head tribe of the Confederacy of the Six Nations, 

 and, like the other Indian tribes of this continent, their origin is 

 involved in mystery. 



The only source which has not been exhausted, from which we can 

 derive any information, at present within our reach, is the Indian 

 traditions. They are, however, so mythical in their character, as 

 touching the origin of the Indian, that but little, if any, reliance can 

 be placed in them. I may say, however, that they all teach that the 



