spoke in languages of the major families of Algonquian. The Mohawk and Onondaga were Iroquois, and the Huron spoke another Iroquoian language. The Mohawk of the federation continued to identify as Mohawk, and as relatives of the Mohawk in traditional Iroquois territory. One of the earliest written references to the Seven Nations was made in the mid-18th century. In 1755, Seven Nations fighters and their French allies had prepared an ambush for the British army on the portage between Lake George and the Hudson River. One of the Mohawk from Kahnawake saw that Mohawk were marching with the British. He told them to identify themselves; they replied, they were "Mohawks and Five Nations" (the traditional name for the Iroquois Confederacy). Questioned in turn, the Mohawk with the French said, "[W]e are the 7 confederate Indian Nations of Canada." This exchange was recorded in a memoranda book by Daniel Claus, who was working as an Indian Agent for William Johnson. Religion and culture During the French colonial period and due to influence of Jesuit missionaries, many of these peoples converted to Catholicism, while often keeping elements on their traditional religion and ceremonies. The Jesuits made efforts "to preserve and maintain the Mohawk language (by translating and transcribing scripture, prayers and hymns into Mohawk) and the traditional clan system (by refusing to marry people of the same clan)." The Jesuits did not require that their converts learn a European language (although many did for ease of trading) or assimilate with the outside culture. The Jesuit mission registers in the late 18th and 19th centuries at Akwesasne and other sites continued to record names as Mohawk (or other tribal names), even when a European version was also used. Geography This map shows the Seven Nations on the eve of the Seven Years' War. Native and French communities formed a patchwork along the St. Lawrence River. The French communities were a single political entity. The Native American communities each had its own government, connected with the French by geography and by formal and informal agreements. The majority of the residents in the four western towns were closely related to the Iroquois of the Six Nations — mostly Mohawk (Kanesetake, Kahnawake, and Akwesasne) or Onondaga (Oswegatchie). There were also Anishinaabeg living at Kanesetake. The eastern towns were populated by the Abenaki (Odanak and Bécancour) and the Huron (Jeune-Lorette). A main unifying concern was the relentless