Mohawk (/ˈmoʊhɔːk/ ⓘ)[3] or Kanienʼkéha ("[language] of the Flint Place") is an Iroquoian language currently spoken by around 3,500 people of the Mohawk nation, located primarily in current or former Haudenosaunee territories, predominately Canada (southern Ontario and Quebec), and to a lesser extent in the United States (western and northern New York).

[citation needed] The Mohawks were the largest and most powerful of the original Five Nations, controlling a vast area of land on the eastern frontier of the Iroquois Confederacy.

The North Country and Adirondack region of present-day Upstate New York would have constituted the greater part of the Mohawk-speaking area lasting until the end of the 18th century.

The Mohawk language is currently classified as threatened, and the number of native speakers has continually declined over the past several years.

The radio station CKON-FM (97.3 on-air in Hogansburg, New York and Saint Regis, Quebec and widely available online through streaming), licensed by the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, broadcasts portions of its programming in Kanienʼkéha.

[7] An adult immersion program was also created in 1985 to address the issue of intergenerational fluency decline of the Mohawk language.

[1] Kanatsiohareke was created to be a "Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Reverse", teaching Mohawk language and culture.

[2] Located at the ancient homeland of the Kanienkehaka (Mohawk), it was re-established in September 1993 under the leadership of Thomas R. Porter (Sakokwenionkwas-"The One Who Wins").

[3] The community must raise their own revenue and frequently hold cultural presentations, workshops, and academic events, including an annual Strawberry Festival.

The primary mission of the community is to try to preserve traditional values, culture, language and lifestyles in the guidance of the Kaienerekowa (Great Law of Peace).

As Kahnawake is located near Montreal, many individuals speak both English and French, and this has contributed to a decline in the use of Mohawk language over the past century.

[11][12] Immersion (monolingual) classes for young children at Akwesasne and other reserves are helping to train new first-language speakers.

[2] Mohawk dialogue features prominently in Ubisoft Montreal's 2012 action-adventure open world video game Assassin's Creed III, through the game's main character, the half-Mohawk, half-Welsh Ratonhnhaké꞉ton, also called Connor, and members of his native Kanièn꞉ke village around the times of the American Revolution.

The language was used throughout in the Marvel Studios animated series What If...?, in the season 2 episode "What If... Kahhori Reshaped the World?

[18] Mohawk has three major dialects: Western (Ohswé:ken and Kenhté:ke), Central (Ahkwesáhsne), and Eastern (Kahnawà꞉ke and Kanehsatà꞉ke); the differences between them are largely phonological.

A typologically uncommon feature of Mohawk (and Iroquoian) phonology is that there are no labials (m, p, b, f, v), except in a few adoptions from French and English, where [m] and [p] appear (e.g., mátsis "matches" and aplám "Abraham"); these sounds are late additions to Mohawk phonology and were introduced after widespread European contact.

[19] The orthography uses the following letters: ⟨Aa Ee Hh Ii Kk Ll Nn Rr Ss Tt Ww Yy⟩ and ⟨’⟩.

3) kanhoha "door" 4) kaʼkhare "slip, skirt" Here, the prefix ka- is generally found on human-made things.

Mohawk verbs are one of the more complex parts of the language, composed of many morphemes that describe grammatical relations.

n-PTVyaʼ-TRLOCt-DU-v-FUT-s-ITER-ha-noun-yahyaʼk-verb-eʼroot suffixn- yaʼ- t- v- s- ha- yahyaʼk- eʼPTV TRLOC DU- FUT- ITER- noun- verb- {root suffix}"…where he will cross over again from here to there…"This example shows multiple prefixes that can be affixed to the verb root, but certain affixes are forbidden from coexisting together.

[21][22] For example: OwiraʼaBabywahrakeʼatenetheoʼwahrumeatOwiraʼa wahrakeʼ ne oʼwahruBaby ate the meatWith noun incorporation: OwiraʼaBabywahaʼwahrakeʼmeat-ateOwiraʼa wahaʼwahrakeʼBaby meat-atewaʼe -ksdish-ohareʼwashwaʼe -ks -ohareʼ{} dish wash"She dish-washed"waʼke -naktbed-aincrement-hninuʼbuywaʼke -nakt -a -hninuʼ{} bed increment buy"I bed-bought"waha -naʼtarbread-aincrement-kwetareʼ-cutwaha -naʼtar -a -kwetareʼ{} bread increment -cut"He bread-cut"Most of these examples take the epenthetic vowel a; it can be omitted if the incorporated noun does not give rise a complex consonant cluster in the middle of the word.

Six Nations Polytechnic in Ohsweken, Ontario, offers Ogwehoweh language diploma and degree programs in Mohawk or Cayuga.

available: There are software packages available for both the Microsoft Windows and Mac operating systems to enable typing of the Mohawk language electronically.

Both packages are available through FirstVoices, a web-based project to support Aboriginal peoples' teaching and archiving of language and culture.