Cultural and Historical Background
of the Mingo People

The Mingo People
The name "Mingo" refers to the the "Honnaisonts" (in various spellings), also called the "Black Minqua". They were an Iroquoian people living in the Ohio basin, spreading througout (today's) western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West-Virginia. They are speculated to be a branch of the Erie.

Iroquoian Languages
Iroquoian languages spoken today consist of Cherokee as a South Iroquoian language, and Tuscarora, Wyandot/Huron, Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Mingo, as the Northern Iroquoian languages.

• A Brief Overview
• Iroquoian Languages (by linguist Jordan Lachler)

Original Geographical Spread (Map, 632K)
The North Iroquoian people used to live in what is today's New York State through to Ohio.

The above map ("Early Indian Tribes, Culture Areas, and Linguistic Stocks - Eastern U.S."), from the U.S. National Atlas (1970), was copied from the Map Collection of the Library Online of the University of Texas at Austine, in their Historical Maps of the United States section.

Iroquoian Place Names
Many places in the U.S. and Canada have Iroquoian names. Sometimes their name in English is of Iroquoian origin (e.g. the word "Canada" itself).