The Wampanoag Language
The Wampanoag originally spoke a dialect of the Massachusett-Wampanoag language, which belongs to the Algonquian languages family. Currently English speaking, the Wampanoag are spearheading a language revival under the direction of the “Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project.”
The rapid decline of the Wampanoag language began after the American Revolution. At this time, New England Native American communities suffered from huge gender imbalances due to premature male deaths, especially due to military and maritime activity. Consequently, many Wampanoag women were forced to marry outside their linguistic groups, making it extremely difficult to maintain the various Wampanoag dialects.
In 1997, Jessie Little Doe Baird (Mashpee Wampanoag), instituted the “Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project”, along with Helen Manning, (Aquinnah Wampanoag). Baird’s stated purpose was the revival of the Wampanoag language; that Wampanoag tribal members should once again become fluent in Wampanoag and speak Wampanoag within their tribal territories. Seventeenth-century printed texts provide a basis, including the translation of the 1663 Eliot Bible (a Bible translated into Massachuseuk by converts under the direction of missionary John Eliot), as well as examples from related neighboring Algonquian languages. Today Baird teaches classes in Mashpee and Aquinnah. Only Wampanoag is spoken during the lessons, and only Wampanoag people are permitted to attend classes. Baird is also compiling a Wampanoag dictionary which currently contains roughly 8,600 words, and through the initiative of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, has begun to implement a language reclamation project there.
Source: Wikipedia.
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