Six Nations of the Grand River
Six Nations is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of whom live on the reserve. These nations are the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca and Tuscarora. Some Lenape live in the territory as well.
Six Nations of the Grand River
Chiefs of the Six Nations explaining their wampum belts to Horatio Hale, 1871
Dancers at the Six Nations Pow Wow
Seneca is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the Hodinöhsö꞉niʼ ; it is an Iroquoian language, spoken at the time of contact in the western part of New York. While the name Seneca, attested as early as the seventeenth century, is of obscure origins, the endonym Onödowáʼga꞉ translates to "those of the big hill." About 10,000 Seneca live in the United States and Canada, primarily on reservations in western New York, with others living in Oklahoma and near Brantford, Ontario. As of 2022, an active language revitalization program is underway.
A sign in the Seneca language on the Cattaraugus Reservation. This is also an unorthodox example of the use of capital letters in Seneca.
Bilingual stop signs, erected in 2016, on the Allegany Indian Reservation in Jimerson Town, New York. Top is in English; bottom is in Seneca.