4 THE MOHAWK LANGUAGE, 



their territory, left their " hunting grounds and the graves of their 

 forefathers," and sought a new home in the wilds of Canada in order 

 to preserve their alliance with their Great Brother the King. 



A portion settled upon the shores of the Bay of Quinte, where 

 there are now about 700, while the remainder passed up to their 

 present reservation at the Grand Biver, numbering at the present day 

 about 2,500. So, again, in the war of 1812, these people gave good 

 evidence at " Beaver Dam," " Lundy's Lane," and " Queenston 

 Heights," that the spirit of their forefathers had not yet entirely 

 died out. As illustrating the " ruling passion," strong even in the 

 din and smoke of battle, the father of the writer, who took a leading 

 part in all the engagements on the Niagara frontier, being present 

 at the burning and sacking of Buffalo, selected from a rich, varied, 

 and costly assortment, as his share of the plunder, a keg of rum ! 



With this bare outline we shall now proceed with our subject 

 proper. 



Although all the traditions r^Dresent the Six Nations as originally 

 separate and distinct tribes, there can be no doubt of their common 

 origin when we come to examine the dialects. 



The migration of a family away from the rest, and living in isola- 

 tion, would, in time, give us the dialectic differences now existing 

 among the languages spoken by the Six Nations. If this be true, 

 we would naturally suppose that the greatest similarity would be 

 found to exist between the languages spoken by tribes located con- 

 tiguous to each other; and, on the contrary, the greatest dissimilarity 

 'between the languages of tribes that are most remote from each other. 

 On reference to the geographical position of the tribes, we find that, 

 according to this, the Mohawk and Oneida ought to be most alike. 

 An examination will prove this fact, while the Tuscarora differs more 

 from the Mohawk than any of the others ; for the Chiefs of the 

 Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senacas, speak each in 

 his own language in the Council House, and is readily understood 

 by all ; but the speech of a Tuscarora Chief usually has to be inter- 

 preted into one or other of the five dialects before it can be under- 

 stood by the Council. 



Our first inquiries must be directed, as a matter of course, to the 

 alphabet of the leading language, viz., the Mohawk, and our atten- 

 tion wjll at once be arrested by a curious peculiarity in the entire 

 absence of the labials which in English are so prominent. 



