Eries

The Eries, also known as the Erie people or the Cat Nation, were a Native American group of the Iroquoian language family who inhabited the southern shore of Lake Erie and nearby areas in what is now western New York, northern Ohio, northeastern Ohio, parts of Pennsylvania, and southern Ontario. They spoke the Erie language, an Iroquoian tongue now extinct, and referred to themselves as Erielhonon, meaning “Cat People.” European accounts typically called them the Erie.

Historically, the Eries lived in villages along rivers and the lake, ranging from small settlements to larger towns. Their economy combined agriculture—primarily maize, beans, and squash—with fishing, hunting, and long-distance trade. They built wood-framed dwellings and, in some locations, longhouse-style structures. The Erie participated in regional alliances and maintained a social structure characteristic of Iroquoian-speaking peoples, including clan-based affiliations and matrilineal influences in certain aspects of leadership and kinship.

The Erie are most noted for their destruction in the mid-17th century during the Beaver Wars, as the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) expanded their influence in the Great Lakes region with French support. By around 1654–1656, numerous Erie towns were attacked, abandoned, or destroyed. Survivors and displaced Erie are believed to have joined neighboring peoples, notably the Wyandot (Huron) and, to some extent, other Iroquoian and Algonquian groups.

Today, the Erie name persists in place names and historical references, but the group itself is considered extinct as a distinct tribe. The Erie language remains of interest to linguists studying the Iroquoian language family.