They spoke Siouan languages, Tutelo and Catawban. Their settlement of Tutelo Heights was noted in 1779. They united with the Monacan, the Occaneechi, the Saponi and the Tutelo. Around the Bluestone River was the Siouan Tutelo. It is related to Ofo and Tutelo. Linguistic scholars believe that the Occaneechi spoke a dialect of the Siouan language Tutelo. Scholars believe they joined with the Tutelo and Saponi and became absorbed into their tribes. All dialects of Tutelo, including Occaneechi, became extinct by the end of the 20th century. However, phonemic vowel length exists in several Siouan languages such as Hidatsa, Ho-Chunk, and Tutelo. In 1740, the majority of the Saponi and Tutelo moved to Shamokin, Pennsylvania. The Saponi and Tutelo Indians are also remnants of this main confederacy. Horatio Hale recorded the Tutelo language in considerable detail. The last fluent speaker in Tutelo country, Nikonha, died in 1871 at age 106. The Saura and Tutelo tribes are mentioned in historic records of the area. Nikonha told Hale that his father had been a Tutelo chief named Onusowa.