The Language

Each nation had their own language which was geared, like everything else, to the natural surroundings. The Innuit, have a vocabulary that is equipped to describe their Arctic lands. They have many different names for differing types of snow conditions. Recently I watched a program on TV that described the languages of the world and their dialects. A renowned linguist who studied the languages of North and South America, found there were only two roots - the Dene (Innuit/Navajo) and the rest of the native tribal groups. This was touted as being an amazing feature in the languages of the Americas In Ontario, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, the language spoken is an Algonquin dialect. On our reserve, the language is called Ashinawbe or Ojibwa. To the north, the language is Cree. Its sounds like the Algonquin language, greatly speeded up. In fact, my uncle says he can understand their language with some difficulty. (I read somewhere that the Cree labelled our tribe, "the people who speak too slow") Phonics You may have seen native words written. In fact, many rivers, lakes, towns and cities have been named with native words. For example an Algonquin word for place of the skunk; Shee-caw-go, is a very famous city on Lake Michigan. In the above example, one can see that the phonetic spelling of the word and what one finds on the maps differ. This a problem in learning many of the native languages. The phonetic rules are different from region to region depending on which European language is used for the phonetic basis. As an example, in many of the language texts for our language, the following rule applies: "ii" makes the sound of "ee" in English So Miigwetch (Thanks) is pronounced Meegwetch, which is why I have chosen to write it like I have in these pages. Famous Words Unfortunately, the people who documented the language and applications did not hear the word correctly or chose a different set of phonetic rules than English. Another example of misinterpretation is the word Toronto, which is an native word that I can't remember its meaning. The point is most (or maybe all) of the languages of the New World do not have the sound of 'R'. The derogatory word for woman - squaw - is another misinterpretation. As it was told by a Tuscarora medicine woman, this name came from some fur traders who happened upon a native village on the shores of Lake Erie. These "gentlemen" were.... horny, to put it bluntly, having spent many months travelling. So they asked the village men, in sign language, if they could have some women to "have fun with". In their unfortunate choice of signs, they grabbed their crotches to try to convey what they wanted. The natives misunderstood and yelled out "Numskaw" meaning male genitals. The explorers thought they were finally understood and said something to the effect. "Yes, skaws!" And the word stuck for the almost universal word for 'Indian' woman. Please do not continue to use this word. Another native word that came into universal use, is the word OK, which according to one book I read, originated around New Orleans. The sailors who traded with the natives down there, over-heard the natives saying the now famous syllables to indicate to each other that whatever they were doing was.....well, Ok. This caught on with these travellers and the word spread from port to port all over the world. Caucus is a word used in many democratic countries to indicate the inner-circle of politicians who dictate the policies for their political party. This word is an Algonquin word which loosely means a 'group in discussion'. This word is indicative of the impact of native North American culture on the world's concept of democracy (and communism). Democracy and communism co-existed here for many centuries before European contact. To Be Continued.. Return to Native Stuff