Susquehannock
/ˌsʌskwəˈhænək/noun
A member of an Indigenous people historically living in the Susquehanna River region; also used as the name of their Iroquoian language.
Did you know?Susquehannock is an English exonym for the people also known in older sources as the Conestoga, and its exact Indigenous source form is debated, so scholars avoid a single confident “literal meaning.”
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Colonial Era
Indigenous
Reconstructed/uncertain native form
“The original self-name is not securely known from surviving records.”
Early 1600s
Algonquian/Colonial transcription
Sasquesahanough / Susquehannock
“Recorded by Europeans as the name for the people living along the Susquehanna River.”
17th Century
English
Susquehannock
“Used in colonial English for the Indigenous nation encountered in the mid-Atlantic region.”
18th–19th Century
English
Susquehannock
“Becomes a historical ethnonym in English accounts after the people were displaced and absorbed into other communities.”
Modern English
English
Susquehannock
“A historical name for the Indigenous nation and language associated with the Susquehanna River valley.”