Iroquoian

American  

[ir-uh-kwoi-uhn] / ˌɪr əˈkwɔɪ ən /

noun

1. a family of North American Indian languages that includes Cherokee, Seneca, Mohawk, and Oneida.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Iroquois people.

2. of or belonging to the Iroquoian family of languages.

Etymology

Origin of Iroquoian

First recorded in 1690–1700; Iroquois + -an

Example Sentences

In 1758, the Shawnee tribe, the Delaware tribe, and the powerful Iroquoian Confederacy agreed to ally with the English in exchange for their promise to respect Indigenous rights to contested lands on the frontier.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

To illustrate this concept, Snyder points to the story of the Westo Indians, a group originally from around Lake Erie, who spoke an Iroquoian language.

From Slate • Jan. 18, 2016

When the Iroquoian Family migrated, the Hurons settled in the western peninsula of Ontario.

From The Dawn of Canadian History : A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada by Langton, H. H. (Hugh Hornby)

This testimony is further strengthened by the linguistic evidence, as it has been ascertained that the language of this tribe belongs to the Iroquoian stock.

From The Problem of the Ohio Mounds by Thomas, Cyrus

The Iroquoian group, which occupied the country from the Delaware and the Hudson to and beyond the St. Lawrence and Lakes Ontario and Erie, besides isolated tracts in North Carolina and Tennessee.

From A School History of the United States by McMaster, John Bach