Quick Facts Total population, Regions with significant populations ...

Iroquois
*Haudenosaunee*
Total population

Photo of an Iroquois woman in 1898.
125,000 (2010, est.)
Regions with significant populations
North America
United States	80,000
Canada	45,000
Languages
Northern Iroquoian languages (including Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora), English, French
Religion
Longhouse Religion, Karihwiio,^{[clarification needed]} Kanoh'hon'io,^{[clarification needed]} Kahni'kwi'io,^{[clarification needed]} Christianity, others

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Nations

The first five nations listed below formed the original Five Nations (listed from east to west, as they were oriented to the sunrise); the Tuscarora became the sixth nation in 1722.

More information English name, Iroquoian name ...

English name	Iroquoian name	Meaning	17th/18th-century location
Mohawk	Kanien'kehá:ka	"People of the Great Flint"	Mohawk River
Oneida	Onyota'a:ka	"People of the Standing Stone"	Oneida Lake
Onondaga	Onöñda'gega'	"People of the Hills"	Onondaga Lake
Cayuga	Gayogo̱ho:nǫʔ	"People of the Great Swamp"	Cayuga Lake
Seneca	Onöndowá'ga:	"People of the Great Hill"	Seneca Lake and Genesee River
Tuscarora¹	Ska:rù:rę'	"Hemp Gatherers"^[317]	From North Carolina²
1 Not one of the original Five Nations; joined 1722. 2 Settled between the Oneida and Onondaga.

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Iroquois Five Nations c. 1650

Iroquois Six Nations c. 1720

Clans

Within each of the six nations, people belonged to a number of matrilineal clans. The number of clans varies by nation, currently from three to eight, with a total of nine different clan names.

More information Seneca, Cayuga ...

**Current clans**
Seneca	Cayuga	Onondaga	Tuscarora	Oneida	Mohawk
Wolf (Honöta:yö:nih)	Wolf (Honǫtahyǫ́:ni:)	Wolf (Hothahi:ionih)	Wolf (Θkwarì•nę)	Wolf (Thayú:ni)	Wolf (Okwáho)
Bear (Hodidzöní'ga:')	Bear (Hadihnyagwái)	Bear (Ohgwai:ih)	Bear (Uhčíhręˀ)	Bear (Ohkwá:li)	Bear (Ohkwá:ri)
Turtle (Hadínyahdë:h)	Turtle (Hadinyáhdę:)	Turtle (Hanya'dëñh)	Turtle (Ráˀkwihs)	Turtle (A'no:wál)	Turtle (A'nó:wara)
Sandpiper/Snipe (Hodí'nehsi:yo')	Sandpiper (Hodi'nehsí:yo')	Snipe (Odihnesi:ioh)	Sandpiper (Tawístawis)	—	—
Deer (Hodí:nyögwaiyo')	—	Deer (De'odijinaindönda')	Deer (Kà?wí:ñu)	—	—
Beaver (Hodígë'ge:ga:')	—	Beaver (Hona'gaia'gih)	Beaver (Rakinęhá•ha•ˀ)	—	—
Heron (Hodidáë'ö:ga:')	Heron	Heron	—	—	—
Hawk/Eagle (Hodíswë'gaiyo)	Hawk (Hodihsw'ęgáiyo')	Hawk (Degaiadahkwa')	—	—	—
—	—	Eel (Ohgönde:na')	Eel (Akunęhukwatíha•ˀ)	—	—

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Population history

Modern scholarly estimates of the 17th century population of the Iroquois have ranged from 5,500^[318] to more than 100,000.^[319] When it comes to eye-witness estimates (that is, contemporary estimates) Marc Lescarbot estimated the Iroquois in year 1609 at 8,000 warriors (that is around 40,000 people) and baron L. A. de Lahontan estimated the Iroquois population around year 1690 at 70,000 people (on average 14,000 in each of five tribes).^[320] Iroquois territory in the 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th century was over 75,000 square km (over 29,000 square mi).^[321] John R. Swanton enumerated a total of 226 Iroquois villages and towns (but most were not occupied at the same time as the Iroquois moved villages every five to twenty years).^[322]^[323] On the contrary Lewis H. Morgan in his 1851 book estimated the Iroquois population in year 1650 at 25,000 people, including 10,000 Seneca, 5,000 Mohawk, 4,000 Onondaga, 3,000 Oneida and 3,000 Cayuga.^[320] The Seneca were also estimated at 13,000 in year 1672 and 15,000 in year 1687.^[320] In 1713–1722, the Iroquois population was augmented when the Tuscarora migrated north to New York and joined them as the sixth nation.^[324]

More recent estimates by Snow and Jones of the Iroquois population have been about 20,000. Jones' estimate applies to the period preceding the first known epidemics of Old World diseases impacting the Iroquois in the mid-17th century. After an archaeological investigation and dating of all 125 Iroquois villages known to have been occupied between 1500 and 1700 (fewer than 226 listed by Swanton occupied at any time), Jones estimated the total pre-epidemic Iroquois population at 20,000 in 1620–1634. In the post-epidemic period from 1634 to 1660 he estimates the total Iroquois population at 8,000. The latter figure does not include the thousands of people adopted into the Iroquois from conquered ethnic groups.^[325] The Iroquois had a liberal and successful adoption policy that allowed them to recoup their population losses and gave them an adaptive advantage over their foes who were unable to do the same. In 1658, the Jesuits noted that the Iroquois contained more adopted foreigners than natives of the country.^[326]

In 1779 between 40 and 60 Iroquois towns and villages were destroyed by the Sullivan Expedition in a scorched earth operation. More than 5,000 Iroquois fled to British Canada and an unknown number remained in the U.S. According to one estimate 4,500 died in the aftermath of the expedition, including many who fled to Canada.^[327]^[328]^[329]

In 1907 there were 17,630 Iroquois^[330] and in 1923 there were 8,696 Iroquois in the USA and 11,355 in Canada, for a total of 20,051.^[331]

According to data compiled in 1995 by Doug George-Kanentiio, a total of 51,255 Six Nations people lived in Canada. These included 15,631 Mohawk in Quebec; 14,051 Mohawk in Ontario; 3,970 Oneida in Ontario; and a total of 17,603 of the Six Nations at the Grand River Reserve in Ontario.^[332] More recently according to the Six Nations Elected Council, some 12,436 on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve, the largest First Nations reserve in Canada,^[333] as of December 2014 and 26,034 total in Canada.^[334]

In 1995, tribal registrations among the Six Nations in the U.S. numbered about 30,000 in total, with the majority of 17,566 in New York. The remainder were more than 10,000 Oneida in Wisconsin, and about 2200 Seneca-Cayuga in Oklahoma.^[332] As the nations individually determine their rules for membership or citizenship, they report the official numbers. (Some traditional members of the nations refuse to be counted.)^[332] There is no federally recognized Iroquois nation or tribe, nor are any Native Americans enrolled as Iroquois.

In the 2000 U.S. census, 80,822 people identified as having Iroquois ethnicity (which is similar to identifying as European), with 45,217 claiming only Iroquois ancestry. There are the several reservations in New York: Cayuga Nation of New York(~450,^[335]) St. Regis Mohawk Reservation (3,288),^[335] Onondaga Reservation (468),^[335] Oneida Indian Nation (~ 1000^[335]), Seneca Nation of New York (533^[335]) and the Tuscarora Reservation (1,138 in 2000^[335]). Some lived at the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin: some 21,000, according to the 2000 census. Seneca-Cayuga Nation in Oklahoma has more than 5,000 people in 2011.^[336] In the 2010 Census, 81,002 persons identified as Iroquois, and 40,570 as Iroquois only across the U.S.^[337] Including the Iroquois in Canada, the total population numbered over 125,000 as of 2009.^[11]

In the 2020 U.S. census in total 113,814 people identified as Iroquois.^[338]

Modern communities

Iroquois in Buffalo, New York, 1914

Several communities exist to this day of people descended from the tribes of the Iroquois confederacy.

Recognized lands of modern Iroquois communities.

Canada

Kahnawake Mohawk in Quebec
Kanesatake Mohawk in Quebec
Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne in Ontario and Quebec
Oneida Nation of the Thames in Ontario
Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Ontario
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in Ontario
Wahta Mohawk Territory in Ontario

United States

Cayuga Nation in New York
Ganienkeh Mohawk – not federally recognized
Kanatsiohareke Mohawk
Onondaga Nation in New York
Oneida Indian Nation in New York
Oneida Nation of Indians in Wisconsin
St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians in New York
Seneca Nation of New York
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Tonawanda Seneca Nation of New York
Tuscarora Reservation of New York

Prominent individuals

Thumb — A painting of the Seneca chief Cornplanter

Frederick Alexcee, artist (also of Tsimshian ancestry)
Henry Armstrong, boxer, No. 2 in Ring Magazine's list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
Joseph Louis Cook or Akiatonharónkwen, a Mohawk leader born to Abenaki and African-American parents and adopted by the Mohawk
Chief John Big Tree, Seneca chief and actor
Governor Blacksnake (Chainbreaker) Thaonawyuthe, Seneca war chief
Joseph Brant or Thayendanegea, Mohawk leader
Canassatego, Onondaga leader, diplomat and spokesperson known for his speech at the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster, where he recommended that the British colonies emulate the Iroquois by forming a confederacy.
Polly Cooper, Oneida who aided the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was a friend of George Washington
Cornplanter or Kaintwakon, Seneca chief
Jesse Cornplanter, Seneca artist and author
David Cusick, Tuscarora artist and author
Deganawida or The Great Peacemaker, the traditional founder, along with Hiawatha, of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
John Deseronto or Deserontyon, prominent Mohawk war chief
Gary Farmer, Cayuga actor
Graham Greene, Oneida and award-winning Canadian actor
Handsome Lake (Ganioda'yo), Seneca religious leader
Cornelius Hill (Onangwatgo), last hereditary Oneida chief, also Episcopal priest
Lillie Rosa Minoka Hill, Mohawk physician who was the second female American Indian doctor in the U.S.
Little Beard Si-gwa-ah-doh-gwih ("Spear Hanging Down"), Seneca chief
John Smoke Johnson (Sakayengwaraton), Mohawk chief
Pauline Johnson, Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century, of Mohawk-European ancestry
Stan "Bulldog" Jonathan, Mohawk professional hockey left winger
Ki Longfellow, novelist
Tom Longboat (Cogwagee), Onondaga distance runner
Oren Lyons, Onondaga, traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle clan
Shelley Niro, Mohawk filmmaker, photographer, and installation artist
John Norton (Teyoninhokovrawen), Mohawk warrior and leader of Cherokee-Scottish ancestry (adopted by Mohawk)
Skenandoa ("pine tree chief"), Oneida chief
Ely S. Parker, also known as Donehogawa or Häsanoan′da, Seneca, Union Army officer during American Civil War; appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Ulysses S. Grant
Sanford Plummer, Seneca artist
Red Jacket, Seneca orator and chief of the Wolf clan
Robbie Robertson, Mohawk, songwriter, guitarist and singer who was part of The Band.
Sayenqueraghta, Seneca war chief
August Schellenberg, Mohawk-Métis actor
Jay Silverheels, actor, Canadian Mohawk, portrayed Tonto the companion to the Lone Ranger on the US TV series The Lone Ranger
Joanne Shenandoah, Oneida singer, songwriter, actress and educator
Tanacharison (Half-king), Seneca war leader during the Seven Years' War
Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk-Algonquin, first Catholic Native American saint
Lyle Thompson, professional lacrosse player
Miles Thompson, professional lacrosse player
Billy Two Rivers, Mohawk professional wrestler