Endangered languages — Extinct and endangered languages in Connecticut and the Northeast

This box and the boxes below concentrate on a subset of the languages in the Algic-Algonquian family, the Eastern Algonquian languages.  Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages whose speakers occupied the Atlantic coast from Canada to North Carolina.  Information about individual languages varies widely. Some (e.g., Loup) are known only from one or two documents containing words and phrases collected by missionaries, explorers or settlers, and some are relatively well documented. 

Many of the Eastern Algonquian languages were greatly affected by colonization and dispossession.

• Algonquian language.  The Wikipedia entry on the Algonquian language from which the above was derived.
• Algonquian (Fox): an illustrative sketch / by William Jones; revised by Truman Michelson.  1911 edition.
• Bibliography of the Algonquian languages, by James Constantine Pilling.  1891 edition.
• Grammaire de la langue algonquine / l'abbé Cuoq.  1891 edition.
• Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (or Natick) Indian language / by Josiah Cotton.  1829 edition.

Loup language

The Wikipedia entry on the Loup language, which distinguishes Loup A and Loup B, states that Loup A may be The Nipmuc language, while Loup B may not have been a distinct language. 

• OLAC resources in and about the Loup A language.
• OLAC resources in and about the Loup B language.

Mohegan-Pequot (also known as Mohegan-Pequot-Montauk, Secatogue, and Shinnecock-Poosepatuck; dialects in New England included Mohegan, Pequot, and Niantic; and on Long Island, Montaukett and Shinnecock) is an Algonquian language formerly spoken by indigenous peoples in southern present-day New England and eastern Long Island.

Historically, Mohegan-Pequot has not had a writing system, and its speakers relied on oral transfer of knowledge, as opposed to writing. The only significant historic writings have been produced by European colonizers who interacted with the speakers of Mohegan-Pequot.

The last native speaker of Mohegan-Pequot, Fidelia Fielding, died in 1908.  The language has, however, experienced a recent renewal of interest, with various organizations working with the Mohegan-Pequot Museum and Research Center in Mashantucket, Connecticut, to recover, revive, and record the language.

• Glossary of the Mohegan-Pequot language.  By J. Dyneley Prince and Frank G. Speck.  (Reprinted from the American Anthropologist (n.s.), vol. 6, no. 1, January-March, 1904).
• John Long's voyages and travels in the years 1768-1788. 1922 edition.
• A Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians from Its Commencement in the year 1740 to the Close of the Year 1808.  By John Heckewelder.  1907 edition.
• Observations on the language of the Muhhekaneew Indians.  By Jonathan Edwards.  1823 edition.
• Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader:  Describing the Manners and Customs of the North American Indians; with an Account of the Posts Situated on the River Saint Laurence, Lake Ontario, &c. to which Is Added, a Vocabulary of the Chippeway Language, Names of Furs and Skins, in English and French, a List of Words in the Iroquois, Mohegan, Shawanee, and Esquimeaux Tongues, and a Table, Shewing the Analogy between the Algonkin and Chippeway Languages.  By John Long.  1791 edition.

Narragansett language

Indigenous peoples' language in the Eastern Algonquian family.  The Wikipedia entry on the Narragansett language, which identifies it as "an Algonquian language formerly spoken in most of what is today Rhodes Island by the Narragansett people" that is closely related to the other Algonquian languages of southern New England.

• The Algonquian Series, by William Wallace Tooker.  1901 10 vol. ed.
• Bringing back Our Lost Language, by Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien. Reprinted from American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 1998 22 (3). UCLA American Indian Studies Center: 215–222.
• Grammatical Studies in the Narragansett Language, by Dr. Frank Waabu O'Brien.  2nd ed.  2009 ERIC Document ED506061.
• A key into the Language of America, by Roger Williams.  The 1936 reprint of the earliest study of the language, first published in 1643.  Other editions are available online through www.hathitrust.org .
• Narragansett (Nãikanset).  Omniglot:  The Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages. Retrieved 16 May2024.
• Publications of the Narragansett Club, First Series.  1866-1874.  6 vols.

Quiripi (pronounced /ˈkwɪrɪpiː/ KWIH-rih-pee,^[1] also known as Mattabesic,^[2] Quiripi-Unquachog, Quiripi-Naugatuck, and Wampano) was an Algonquian language formerly spoken by the indigenous people of southwestern Connecticut and central Long Island, including the Quinnipiac, Unguachog, Mattabessett (Wangunk), Podunk, Tunxis, and Paugussett (subgroups Naugaruck, Potatuck, Weantinock).   It has been effectively extinct since the end of the 19th century and is poorly documented.  Furthermore, the primary texts relating to Quiripi are unavailable online.1

• Uncovering Indigenous Worlds and Histories on a Bend of a New England River before the 1650s: Problematizing Nomenclature and Settler Colonial History, Deep History, and Early Colonization Narratives, by Christoph Strobel.  2020 publication.

The Wampanoag language, also known as Massachusett, is a Southern New England Algonquian language.  Prior to English contact in the 17th century, the Wampanoag numbered as many as 40,000 people living across 67 villages composing the Wampanoag Nation.   At there present, only two Wampanoag tribes are federally recognized: 

1. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe  

2.  Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)

• Evidence for Proposed Finding against Federal Acknowledgment of the Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head, Inc. By the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.  1985 edition.
• Indian History, Biography and Genealogy:  Pertaining to the Good Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag Tribe, and His Descendants.by Ebenezer W. Peirce.  1878 edition.  
• Notes Concerning the Wampanoag Tribe of Indians, with Some Account of a Rock Picture on the Shore of Mount Hope Bay, in Bristol, R.I. By William J. Miller.  1880 edition.
• Territorial Subdivisions and Boundaries of the Wampanoag, Massachusett, and Nauset Indians, by Frank G. Speck.  1928 edition.