Wyandot, or Wyandotte, also known as Huron, was spoken near the south end of Georgian Bay off Lake Huron in the 17th century. The Wyandot language is a member of the Lake Iroquoian branch of the Iroquoian language family. Closely related languages include Laurentian, Cayuga, Seneca, Mohawk, Oneida, and Onondaga. Cherokee is a more distantly related language.
Selected Language Information
Julian, Charles. 2010. A History of the Iroquoian Languages. Winnipeg, Canada: University of Manitoba dissertation.
Kopris, Craig 1999. Wyandot Phonology: Recovering the Sound System of an Extinct Language. Proceedings of the Second Annual High Desert Linguistics Society Conference 2. 51-67
Kopris, Craig. 2001. A Grammar and Dictionary of Wyandot. Buffalo, NY: SUNY dissertation.
Steckley, John L. 1988. How the Huron Became Wyandot: Onomastic Evidence. Onomastica Canadiana 70. 59-70
Sample Archival Materials in the Native American Languages Collection
Gallatin, Albert (Compiler). 1923. Wyandotte or Huron Indian Language, Spoken by the Indians Who Lived at Sandusky, Ohio, 1751 – 1818. Akira & Kimiko Yamamoto Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Content Type: Ephemera. Catalog Number: AKY-403.
Smith, Richard Zane (Author, Speaker, Performer). 2012. sakwàtreⁿdú:tęʼ: We All Sing Again, Children’s Songs in the Wyandot Language. General Field Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Content Type: Audio (CD-R). Catalog Number: GEN-029.
