Category: Munsee

Culture area: Northeast

Tribes affected: Abenaki, Algonquin, Arapaho, Atsina, Blackfoot, Blood, Cheyenne, Cree, Fox, Illinois, Kickapoo, Lenni Lenape, Maliseet, Menominee, Micmac, Montagnais, Naskapi, Narragansett, Natick, Ojibwa, Passamaquoddy, Piegan, Potawatomi, Sauk, Saulteaux, Shawnee, Wampanoag, Wappinger

Proto-Algonquian is probably the best-known proto-language of the North American Indian languages north of Mexico, most likely because of the wide geographic spread of Algonquian tribes and the large number of researchers studying this family.

The Algonquian language family may be divided into three major groups: central, eastern, and western. The central languages are Cree, Montagnais, Naskapi, Menominee, Fox, Sauk, Kickapoo, Shawnee, Peoria, Miami, Illinois, Potawatomi, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Delaware (Lenni Lenape), and Powhatan. The eastern group includes Natick, Narragansett, Wampanoag, Pennacook, Mohegan, Pequot, Wappinger, Montauk, Penobscot, Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmac. The western section consists of Blackfoot, Piegan, Blood, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Atsina, and Nawathinehena. It must be noted that scholars are not always in agreement about which ones are languages and which are dialects or subgroupings.

Culture Area

Among North American Indian groups, the tribes that speak Algonquian languages cover the largest area: They can be found from Vancouver Island and through Canada to Newfoundland, and in areas along the Atlantic Coast as far down as North Carolina. Since the time of white occupation in the United States, many changes in location and status have taken place. For example, Kickapoo, at one time contiguous with Fox and Sauk in the area of present Illinois, would later be spoken in Oklahoma and in Mexico. By the 1960’s, the Arapaho were living principally in Oklahoma and Wyoming. Some five to six thousand Blackfoot were settled in Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Cheyenne had three to four thousand speakers in various states, but they were concentrated in Montana and Oklahoma. Cree also had thirty to forty…

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Founded in 1929, the Paris Yiddish Center – Medem Library’s existence is a testament to collective resilience: many of the 21,000 works in its collection were saved because they were hidden in basements during World War II. Macha Fogel, the center’s temporary director, explains that while Yiddish is common in Hasidic communities, the language lost prominence across the Jewish world. Fogel says, “It’s important that scholars, artists, or simply curious people study [Yiddish], so that access to all this non-religious material remains existent.” Through Paris Yiddish Center’s summer programs, travelers balance morning studies with Yiddish singing, theater, and cooking classes.

The vibrant pace is similar at Oideas Gael, an Irish language cultural center with language immersions in Gleann Cholm Cille, County Donegal, Ireland. Thematic itineraries include painting, weaving, and flute playing—all through the medium of Irish Gaelic, taught by local tutors. Accommodations include a string of thatched roof homestays within walking distance to the center.

Rónán Ó Dochartaigh, director at Oideas Gael, estimates that “2,200 travelers from 29 countries around the world, ages 18 to mid-80s” visit annually to study the language; a number that feels especially significant when he notes the local population is 700. “A small number of them married students they met during the program,” he adds. Whether for love or learning, the lyrical charm of Oideas Gael attracts an eclectic mix of students including musicians, doctors, postmen, psychologists, and politicians, including former President of Ireland Mary McAleese—a regular guest.

Ó Dochartaigh reflects on the path that returned him to this tiny coastal town: “I grew up in the area. I had a summer job at Oideas Gael. I worked and lived in other places, but kept my connection to the language because of my experience working here. We want to show that learning the…

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Thousands of people are gathering in New Mexico for a celebration showcasing Native American and Indigenous dancers, musicians and artisans from around the world.

Billed by organizers as the largest powwow in North America, the annual Gathering of Nations festival kicks off Friday with a colorful procession of dancers spiraling into the center of an arena at the New Mexico state fairgrounds. Participants wear elaborate regalia adorned with jingling bells and dance to the tempo of rhythmic drumming.

The event also features the crowning of Miss Indian World, as well as horse parades in which riders are judged on the craftsmanship of their intricately beaded adornments or feathered headdresses and how well they work with their horses.

Powwow roots

Powwows are a relatively modern phenomenon that emerged in the 1800s as the U.S. government seized land from tribes throughout the Northern and Southern Plains. Forced migrations and upheaval during this period resulted in intertribal solidarity among Plains people and those from the southern prairies of Canada.

This image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows one of the postage stamps in a new series commemorating Native American powwows. (U.S. Postal Service via AP)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/U.S. Postal Service

Alliances were formed, giving way to the exchange of songs and dances during gatherings between different tribes. In the decades that followed, powwows were advertised to pioneers heading westward as “authentic” Native American dance shows. For some, it was an exploitation of their cultures.

The word powwow was derived from pau wau, an Algonquian Narrtick word for “medicine man,” according to the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Scholars say English settlers misused the word to refer to the meetings of medicine men and later to any kind of Native American gathering.

Today, some…

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Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples living along North America’s eastern seaboard knew about earthquakes long before Europeans appeared in the region, according to an expert.

Tribal nations like the Seneca and Cayuga of the six-nation Iroquois Confederacy (also including Mohawk, Tuscarora, Onondaga and Oneida) as well as Algonquian peoples like the Natick (Massachusetts Indians) and Mi’kmaq of Atlantic Canada all have a word for earthquake, according to Boston College seismologist John Ebel.

Researching which tribes in the region have a word for earthquake could be useful, “because that would suggest that earthquakes were a rather repetitive thing,” Ebel noted in a recent talk at the Seismological Society of America’s Annual Meeting.

Seismic East Coast

A statement by the Society noted that while northeastern North America might not feel like earthquake country compared to California, the region has a long record of witnessing large quakes. Since the past 400 years (coinciding with European colonisation), there have been written records that have documented these quakes.

However, according to Ebel, the record can be extended into the past with the help of Native American knowledge and can help scientists better understand earthquake hazard in the area.

He cited two instances. Ebel pointed to Moodus, Connecticut. ‘Moodus’ comes from an Algonquin dialect and means “place of noises.”

“For hundreds of years, people have heard “booms”—as if echoing in an underground cavern—in the area. Ebel said the Moodus noises are similar those he heard as a graduate student camping in the Mojave Desert following a magnitude 5.1 earthquake,” the statement observed.

“The Moodus noises sounded like distant thunder of a boom coming up from the ground, very similar to what I heard from the California aftershocks several years before,” said Ebel, who noted that modern seismic instruments have recorded earthquake swarms in Moodus. “So the ‘place of noises’ means that they were…

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Attendees of the 2024 Roanoke Island American Indian Festival Powwow in Manteo are shown here. Photo: Biff Jennings, courtesy Algonquian Indians of North Carolina, Inc.

The 14th annual Roanoke Island American Indian Festival is set for this weekend.

Taking place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on the Manteo High School practice field, sponsors for the festival and powwow are the Algonquian Indians of North Carolina Inc. and the Roanoke-Hatteras Indians of Dare County.

The nonprofit Algonquian Indians of North Carolina is composed of people who are genealogically descended from the original historic Roanoke-Hatteras (Croatan) Indians of Dare County. “We are dedicated to keeping alive the heritage and culture of our ancestors, for the benefit of our members and the community at large. Historically, our tribes were known for fishing, hunting and farming,” its website states.

There will be food, exhibits, health screening, survival techniques and vendors. Because no seating will be provided, those attending should bring a lawn chair, blanket, beach umbrella and related items. Only service animals are allowed.

Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc. said in a release from their organization that they’ll have a table set up at the festival.

The society’s Outreach and Education Director Joan Collins said in a press release that the festival is a important reminder that many who live and have lived in the area have American Indian ties.

“The historic U.S. Life-Saving Service and later U.S. Coast Guard station once at Pea Island on the Outer Banks is perhaps one of the best local reminders,” Collins said. “The plaque which hangs on the outside wall…

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Dancing in the circle at the Roanoke Island Festival and Powwow at Manteo High School last year. Photo by Biff Jennings

By Joan L. Collins – Director, Outreach and Education Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc.

On April 26-27, from 11:00 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day, the 14th Roanoke Island American Indian Festival will be held at the Manteo High School Practice Field.  The school is located at 829 Wingina Ave, just a few minutes’ drive from downtown Manteo  The Festival and Powwow, which is sponsored by the Algonquian Indians of North Carolina, Inc., and the Roanoke – Hatteras Indians of Dare County, includes tribal members with deep roots to Roanoke Island and the surrounding area.

Single dancer at the Roanoke Island Festival and Powwow
at Manteo High School last year. Photo by Biff Jennings

This family friendly event is an exciting opportunity to experience the culture and traditions of Algonquin tribes on the North Carolina coast.

While many are familiar with the story of the early English colonists and the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, knowledge of tribes who lived in this area before and after the colonists arrived is not well known. The Powwow and Festival provide the opportunity observe and celebrate first hand the culture of Algonquian speaking tribes practiced by tribal members today.  It is intended to provide deeper understanding and appreciation of tribal traditions and to bring community members together to share experiences.  Powwows are wonderful family events not only to enjoy but to learn.

The event is also an important reminder that many who live in the area, past and present, are those with American Indian ties.   The historic U.S. Life-Saving Service and later U.S. Coast Guard station once at Pea Island on the Outer Banks…

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NEWPORT CITY – New England certainly is a large historic piece of the United States settlement and Vermont is no exception. A film produced, written, and directed by Jay Craven, a Northeast Kingdom resident, outlines how Vermont became a state. The one hour and 43-minute movie, ‘Lost Nation’, had a public showing at the North Country Union High School Auditorium Wednesday evening. 

“‘Lost Nation’ is set in places that are the ancestral homelands of the Abenaki, Mohigan, Lenape, Nipmuc, Pocumtuc, Nonotuck, Wabanaki, Mohawk, Haudenosaunee, Matinecock, and Pennacook tribal nations,” reads an information piece that appears on the screen before the movie starts.  

Craven made the movie through his Semester Cinema Program, where 30 professionals and mentors collaborated with 40 students from ten colleges to have film-intensive learning workshops that include pre-production work, appearances from visiting artists, and six weeks of production on a feature for national release. 

The writing itself took Craven close to two years. The actual shooting took six weeks, but they spent another nine weeks preparing the location for the production. The film was shot in Massachusetts and Vermont. They shot some in Massachusetts because that state has a film incentive program. 

“They cover 25 percent of what you spend while you are there,” he said. “That’s a huge incentive for us. We shoot some in Massachusetts in order to take advantage of the film incentive (program).”

They initially wanted to shoot all of it in Vermont, but finances made it problematic. 

Craven got the idea for the film the day after he moved to Vermont in 1974. 

“I was presented with the hard reality that there was no heat in my house, and I needed to start cutting wood for a wood burning furnace,” he said. Craven went on to say that a neighbor loaned him a farm truck. “The brakes went out….

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