Originally from the area that would later become upstate New York and Quebec, the nation is known as the "elder brothers" and "keepers of the eastern door (of the long house)" to the other nations of the confederacy. Due to their overwhelming support of the British Army during French and Indian and the American Revolutionary Wars, they were often subjected to slander, and were nicknamed "Mohawk". This insult originated from the Algonquian language, which means "flesh-eater".