<P> According to one theory of early Iroquois history, after becoming united in the League, the Iroquois invaded the Ohio River Valley in the territories that would become the eastern Ohio Country down as far as present - day Kentucky to seek additional hunting grounds . They displaced about 1200 Siouan - speaking tribepeople of the Ohio River valley, such as the Quapaw (Akansea), Ofo (Mosopelea), and Tutelo and other closely related tribes out of the region . These tribes migrated to regions around the Mississippi River and the piedmont regions of the east coast . </P> <P> In Reflections in Bullough's Pond, historian Diana Muir argues that the pre-contact Iroquois were an imperialist, expansionist culture whose cultivation of the corn / beans / squash agricultural complex enabled them to support a large population . They made war primarily against neighboring Algonquian peoples . Muir uses archaeological data to argue that the Iroquois expansion onto Algonquian lands was checked by the Algonquian adoption of agriculture . This enabled them to support their own populations large enough to have sufficient warriors to defend against the threat of Iroquois conquest . The People of the Confederacy dispute whether any of this historical interpretation relates to the League of the Great Peace which they contend is the foundation of their heritage . </P> <P> The Iroquois may be the Kwedech described in the oral legends of the Mi'kmaq nation of Eastern Canada . These legends relate that the Mi'kmaq in the late pre-contact period had gradually driven their enemies--the Kwedech--westward across New Brunswick, and finally out of the Lower St. Lawrence River region . The Mi'kmaq named the last - conquered land Gespedeg or "last land," from which the French derived Gaspé . The "Kwedech" are generally considered to have been Iroquois, specifically the Mohawk; their expulsion from Gaspé by the Mi'kmaq has been estimated as occurring c. 1535--1600 . </P> <P> Around 1535, Jacques Cartier reported Iroquoian - speaking groups on the Gaspé peninsula and along the St. Lawrence River . Archeologists and anthropologists have defined the St. Lawrence Iroquoians as a distinct and separate group (and possibly several discrete groups), living in the villages of Hochelaga and others nearby (near present - day Montreal), which had been visited by Cartier . By 1608, when Samuel de Champlain visited the area, that part of the St. Lawrence River valley had no settlements, but was controlled by the Mohawk as a hunting ground . The fate of the Iroquoian people that Cartier encountered remains a mystery, and all that can be stated for certain is when Champlain arrived, they were gone . On the Gaspé peninsula, Champlain encountered Algonquian - speaking groups . The precise identity of any of these groups is still debated . On 29 July 1609, Champlain assisted his allies in defeating a Mohawk war party by the shores of what is now called Lake Champlain, and again in June 1610, Champlain fought against the Mohawks . </P>

Who were the five nations and what did they represent