American Indian language Native Indian people Native American genealogy

Unkechaug/Algonquin tribes

Q: I would like to know how I could get a CD on the Algonquin Language. I belong to the Algonquin Tribe,Unkechaug Nation & I belong to the Poospatuck Reservation. I have been unable to find any CDs. Please have someone get back to me.

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A: Hello, thanks for writing.

One thing that may be causing you trouble in this quest is that the Unkechaug and Algonquin languages are different. This is a common point of confusion, because anthropologists decided to call all the languages and cultures that were related to Algonquin by the name "Algonquian." Unkechaug was an Algonquian language--so are Cree, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, etc.--but it is different from Algonquin. The situation is similar to the fact that English is a Germanic language, but it is not the same as German.

Next, the Unkechaug language has unfortunately not been spoken since the 1800's, so there are not any CDs of it. The language was most closely related to Mohegan, Pequot, Mahican, Wampanoag, and Narragansett, none of which are spoken natively today (though the Wampanoag, Mohegans and Pequots have been working to revive their languages and have had some good success.) The closest related languages that are still living are Lenape Delaware and Munsee Delaware. There is a good audio course in Lenape available and that may be the one of the most interest to you: Western Delaware. There are also many materials in Algonquian languages such as Algonquin, Ojibwe, Cree etc., but those languages are much more different from the Unkechaug language. Lenape would be the closest language that I know of having any CD or audio recordings.

Hope that helps!
Native Languages of the Americas

Unkechaug/Algonquin tribes

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