Snack Bar 

Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project

In the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language, the word dewáhǫhde:s means deer. This word is comprised of the parts de-, which means “two,” -wa-, which means “it,” -hǫhd-, which means “ear(s),” and -es, which means “long.” The literal translation of dewáhǫhde:s is, “it has two long ears."

As of 2022, the Gayogohó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language was spoken as a first language by fewer than a dozen people at Ohswé:gęˀ (Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada) and around Cayuga Lake in New York State.

Stephen Henhawk, a research associate in the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Cornell, was the inspiration behind the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project. Stephen teaches language and culture classes at Cornell, and the project facilitates virtual language classes from within the Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ homelands.

Gayogohó:nǫˀ is unrelated to English or other Indo-European languages. The language includes relatively few nouns, and words can be comprised of many different parts. According to the project website, this makes Gayogohó:nǫˀ a very descriptive language.