When languages are passed down from one generation to the next it forms a braided rope through generations tethering a people together with common beliefs and a shared history and culture. The Iroquois family of languages were preserved orally for centuries, often carried through times of great hardship and loss. Our tribe of Indians spoke a combination of our two distinct Iroquois languages of Cayuga and Seneca until the 1980’s. Paul Barton felt this loss “I started going to ceremonies and realizing I didn’t know what was being said,” he said. “A lot of our folks weren’t speaking anymore, and I wanted to help change that.” What began as curiosity has since grown into a personal mission: Paul now leads prayers and speeches at ceremonies,  helping to bring the words of our ancestors back into daily use. 

Paul built relationships with the Six Nations to learn directly from speakers there and leaned on books shared with him. “Richard White really helped me get started,” he said. Along the way, he also studied Cayuga and Shawnee, noticing how each language reflects its people. “Our language is very intricate,” he said. “Shawnee feels a little more relaxed, but ours has a certain precision to it.” Today, Paul taught Cayuga Language classes for the past 21 years. Today, classes are being taught by Brandon Chafin, Sallie White, David "Boo" Lane and Mahayla Perryman-Matthews along with a team of volunteers at different language levels. The tribe’s language class meets twice a week: Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The class is taught in eight-week sessions. Students range from children learning songs and dances to adults rediscovering ceremonial phrases. “Anyone can come down and join,” he said. “If we get enough participation, we may even start another beginner class.” 

Our language reveals to us so much about our identity and history; names for example are passed down from one generation to the next; yet every living Indian has a unique name. Paul has seen babies born being given the names of people that he knew. “There’s a story that if every clan gathered all their names, the Deer Clan would tell the story of the deer, and the Wolf clan the wolf and so on” he said. Every prayer spoken, and song remembered is a step towards revealing all that our language has to offer our people about who we are and how we should live as Natives.