Mohegan language
Mohegan is a dialect of a larger Language sometimes known as Mohegan-Pequot. The dialects include:
- Mohegan
- Pequot
- Montauk (a.k.a. Montauketts)
- Niantic
The Mohegans and the Pequots lived in southeastern Connecticut . The Montauks lived across the Long Island Sound on eastern Long Island . The Niantics lived along the coast in southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island .
Fidelia Fielding, the last known native speaker of Mohegan, died in 1908 . Her vocabulary of 446 Mohegan-Pequot words was preserved by J. Dyneley Prince and Frank Speck .
Mohegan vs. Mahican (and Mohican)
The names ''Mohegan'' and Mahican , having similar pronunciations, are often confused. However, the two names refer to different ethnolinguistic groups. These two groups are often mistakenly conflated into a single group. To add to further confusion, a separate term ''Mohican'' has often been used to refer to both Mohegans and Mahicans.
The Mahicans were an Algonquin tribe living in and around the Hudson Valley , and are the tribe referred to in James Fenimore Cooper's novel '' The Last Of The Mohicans '' (which does confuse the Mahicans with the Mohegans to some extent). Cooper's novel is blamed in part for perpetuating the confusion between the two groups.
The Mohegans today
They continue to live today, still primarily in Connecticut. Under their chief Ralph W. Sturges the tribe gained federal recognition and won the right to build and operate a Casino and Hotel , the Mohegan Sun , on their Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut . There have also been projects to record as much as the Mohegan language as possible from the tribe's elders and record it on CD-ROM to teach to younger generations. They also own a Women's National Basketball Association team, the Connecticut Sun , who plays their home games on the tribe's Resort .
External links
Bibliography
- Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
- Campbell, Lyle; & Mithun, Marianne (Eds.). (1979). ''The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment''. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-74624-5.
- Campbell, Lyle; & Mithun, Marianne. (1979). Introduction: North American Indian historical linguistics in current perspective. In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), ''The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment'' (pp. 3-69). Austin: University of Texas Press.
- Conkey, Laura E.; Bolissevain, Ethel; & Goddard, Ives. (1978). Indians of southern New England and Long Island: Late period. In B. G. Trigger (Ed.), ''Northeast'' (pp. 177-189). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Goddard, Ives. (1978). Eastern Algonquian languages. In B. G. Trigger (Ed.), ''Northeast'' (pp. 70-77). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Goddard, Ives. (1979). Comparative Algonquian. In L. Campbell & M. Mithun (Eds.), ''The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment'' (pp. 70-132). Austin: University of Texas Press.
- Goddard, Ives. (1996). ''Languages''. Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-1604-8774-9.
- Goddard, Ives. (1999). ''Native languages and language families of North America'' (rev. and enlarged ed. with additions and corrections). {Link without Title} . Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press (Smithsonian Institute). (Updated version of the map in Goddard 1996). ISBN 0-8032-9271-6.
- Mithun, Marianne. (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X (pbk).
- 1
- Salwen, Bert. (1978). Indians of southern New England and Long Island: Early period. In B. G. Trigger (Ed.), ''Northeast'' (pp. 160-176). Handbook of North American Indian languages (Vol. 15). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Simpson, J. A.; & Weiner, E. S. C. (1989). entry . ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Online version).
- Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978-present). ''Handbook of North American Indians'' (Vol. 1-20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Trigger, Bruce G. (Ed.). (1978). ''Northeast''. Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 15). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution.
|
