Algic Language Family
The Algic languages (also known as Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok or Algonquian-Ritwan) are an indigenous language family of North America. They are all thought to descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto language reconstructed using Proto-Algonquian and the languages Wiyot and Yurok.Most Algic languages are part of the Algonquian subfamily, which are spoken from the Rocky Mountains to New England. The other Algic languages are the Yurok and Wiyot languages of northwestern California.Wiyot, Miami, Illinois, Etchemin, Loup A, Loup B, Mahican, Massachusett, Mohegan, Pequot, Nanticoke, Narragansett, Pamlico, Powhatan, Quiripi, Naugatuck, Unami, Unquachog, and Shinnecock are now extinct. The last known Wiyot speaker died in 1962. All other languages are endangered. Yurok is thought to have ten or fewer speakers.The two Algic languages of California, Wiyot and Yurok, have sometimes been combined into a subgroup called Ritwan (leading to a two-branch genetic tree of Ritwan and Algonquian). This grouping has been disfavored by many specialists. Wiyot and Yurok do not seem to be any more similar to each other than either language is to Algonquian languages.Within the Algonquian subfamily there is a smaller genetic grouping of the Eastern Algonquian languages. The other (non-Eastern) Algonquian languages have sometimes been categorized into two smaller subgroups: Central Algonquian and Plains Algonquian. However, these two subgroups are not based on genetic relationship but are rather area subgroups.
Algic Family Tree
Algonquian(42)
Carolina Algonquian (United States) (also known as Pamlico, Pamtico, Pampticough, Christianna Algonquian) (Extinct)
Central Algonquian(23)
Atikamekw (Canada)
Moose Cree (Canada)
Northern East Cree (Canada)
Plains Cree (Canada)
Southern East Cree (Canada)
Swampy Cree (Canada)
Woods Cree (Canada)
Montagnais (Canada)
Naskapi (Canada)
Ojibwa (8)
Algonquin (Canada)
Chippewa (United States)
Central Ojibwa (Canada)
Eastern Ojibwa(Canada)
Northwestern Ojibwa (Canada)
Severn Ojibwa (Canada)
Western Ojibwa (Canada)
Ottawa (Canada)
Kickapoo (United States)
Menominee (United States)
Meskwaki (United States)
Miami (United States) (aka Illinois and Illinois-Miami) (Officially extinct but a revitalization program is in progress since an extensive dictionary exists)
Potawatomi (United States)
Shawnee (United States)
Delaware
Munsee
Unami (also known as Lenape) (Extinct)
Northern Unami
Southern Unami
Unalachtigo
Eastern Abnaki,(United States)(also known as Abenaki or Abenaki-Penobscot)
Penobscot (also known as Old Town or Old Town Penobscot)
Caniba
Aroosagunticook
Pigwacket
Etchemin (uncertain) (Extinct)
Loup A (probably Nipmuck) (uncertain) (Extinct)
Loup B (Uncertain) (Extinct)
Western Abnaki (Canada) (also known as Abnaki, St. Francis, Abenaki, or Abenaki-Penobscot)
Malecite-Passamaquoddy (Canada) (also known as Maliseet-Passamquoddy)
Maliseet (also known as Malecite)
Passamaquoddy
Massachusett (United States) (Extinct)
North Shore (United States)
Natick (United States)
Wampanoag (United States)
Nauset (United States)
Cowesit (United States)
Micmac (Canada and United States) (also known as Mic Mac, Mi’kmaq, Mi’gmaq, or Mi’kmaw)
Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett (United States) (aka Mohegan-Pequot-Montauk)
Mohegan (Extinct)
Montauk
Narragansett (Extinct)
Niantic
Pequot (Extinct)
Shinnecock (uncertain) (Extinct)
Munsee (Canada)
Nanticoke (United States)
Nanticoke (Extinct)
Piscataway (also known as Conoy)
Choptank
Powhatan (United States) (also known as Virginia Algonquian) (Extinct)
Quiripi-Naugatuck-Unquachog
Quiripi (also known as Quinnipiak or Connecticut) (Extinct)
Naugatuck (Extinct)
Unquachog (Extinct)
Arapaho (3)
Arapaho (United States)
Gros Ventre (United States)
Nawathinehena (United States)
Blackfoot (Canada) and Blackfeet (United States)
Cheyenne (United States)
Mahican (also known as Mohican) (Extinct)
Moravian
Stockbridge
Piscataway (United States)
Unclassified (1)
Lumbee (United States)
Wiyot(1)
Wiyot (United States) (Extinct)
Yurok(1)
Yurok (United States)
Yurok is an Algonquian language. The Yurok Tribe is California’s largest Indian Tribe with nearly 5,000 enrolled members. The Yurok Indians are also known historically as the Pohlik-la, Ner-er-er, Petch-ik-lah and Klamath River Indians.
Wiyot is the name of one of three culturally and linguistically related groups on the Eel River Delta in the early nineteenth century. They were culturally similar to the Yurok.
In the Powellian classification the Wiyot Indians were given an independent position as the Wishoskan stock.
Later California investigators combined them with the Yurok under the name Ritwan but still later believed that they had established a relationship between them and the great Algonquian family of the east. This allocation is, however, questioned by other ethnologists.
This is a list of tribes or sub-tribes who are part of the Algonquian linguistic group. (from the word “alligewinenk” which means “come together from distant places.”) This is a work in progress. There are probably others. The Algonquian-speaking (linguistic) groups include:
Miyo Wahkohtowin Community Education Authority (MWCEA) and Dr. Earle Waugh Dir. Center for Culture & Health Family Medicine, University of Alberta (U of A) are partnering to develop a web based interactive First Nations language portal with dictionary and curriculum based resources to further the development for Cree language in Canada.
Region: Northeastern Wisconsin, on what was formerly the Menomini Reservation.
Region: Northeastern Kansas: Horton; central Oklahoma: McCloud, Jones; Texas: Nuevo Nacimiento. Also spoken in Mexico.
Region: 2 communities in Quebec and Labrador. Those in Kawawachikamach are about 10 km northeast of Schefferville in northeastern Quebec at the height of land (watershed). On December 15, 2002 most of the Mushuau Innu moved from Utshimassits (Davis Inlet) to Natuashish on the mainland. Natuashish is an isolated community in Labrador.
Region: 11 communities in Quebec and Labrador, from Lake St. John eastward along the Saguenay Valley to the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence eastward to St. Augustin, northward to the height of land at Schefferville and inland Labrador (Goose Bay, Lake Melville). Western Montagnais is in 4 communities: […]
Region: Far north Manitoba and Saskatchewan, inland southwest from Churchill, Manitoba into Saskatchewan.
Region: Ontario, along the coast of Hudson Bay and northern west coast of James Bay, and inland into Saskatchewan.
Region: Southern tip of James Bay, Moosonee, Ontario. This community and surrounding area (Moose Factory, Ontario). Has speakers of Moose Cree, East Cree, and Swampy Cree in it.
Region: West central Quebec, east coast of lower Hudson Bay and James Bay, communities of Whapmagoostui, Chisasibi, Wemindji, and most people in Eastmain.
Region: North central Manitoba westward across Saskatchewan and central Alberta to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Also spoken in USA.
Region: Quebec, southeastward from James Bay, inland to the height of land (watershed) east of Lake Mistissini. Coastal communities of Waskaganish, some speakers in Eastmain. Inland, in Mistissini, Waswanipi, Nemaska, and Ouje-Bougoumo.
Region: Three isolated communities on reservations of Manuane, Obedjiwan, Weymontachie, between La Tuque, Quebec, and Senneterre, Quebec, 200 to 400 km north of Montreal in south central Quebec, along the upper reaches of the St. Maurice River.
“Kemosabe,” also spelled “Kemo Sabe” or “Kemo Sabhay”…
What is the meaning of this expression that became such a memorable part of the Lone Ranger series?
General cultural beliefs of Algonquain speaking tribes… KEYWORDS: algonquin culture algonquin tribes algonquing geographical area algonkin algonquin indians The Algonquin Indians (also spelled Algonkian) are the most populous and widespread North American Native groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds and speaking several related dialects. They inhabited most of the Canadian region south of […]
(BLACKFEET RESERVATION, BROWNING, MONTANA)- “Tsa nii ksistikowatts sa-ahsi?” teacher Shirley Crowshoe asks her class of elementary students sitting in a circle on a thick rug in a bright, modern classroom. “What kind of day is it outside?”
Jessie DesRosier, 13, is quick to raise his hand: “Sugapii ksisko, ahstosopo,” he says. “Nice day, cold wind.”
“Algonquian” is a language group, not a tribe of Indians, although many Indian tribes speak one of the algonquian dialects.