Lost languages

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to my kids that “moccasin” and “raccoon” were Pamunkey words (Virginia Algonquin specifically but we claim it). One of the biggest surprises to my kids was that the word “wow” was used by Pamunkey people (“waugh” as written by John Smith). They were so surprised and I realized that we hadn’t really talked about how the Pamunkey lost their language. Because Powhatan Indians were among the first to meet English colonizers, they shared language, words and phrases with each other and adopted words in both English and Algonquin. In fact, the English American language adopted many words from the Virginia Algonquin language which are used across the U.S to this day. Unfortunately, the Powhatan Indians were forced to adapt to English ways in order to survive so many of the Algonquin language dialects were the first to die out.

By the late 1700s, Virginia Algonquin was rarely spoken. Like many indigenous languages, the Pamunkey and Powhatan Indians didn’t have a written language so as Powhatan Indians were forced to adopt more English words into their vocabulary, they lost their spoken language. Today, we have very few written references to Virginia Algonquin - mostly from Jamestown settlers like William Strachey and Captain John Smith.

Growing up, our tribal leaders would offer blessings in English and sometimes using adopted Algonquin words but we have not had access to our native language in hundreds of years. The small comfort is knowing that several modern day words were taken or adapted from the Virginia Algonquin/Powhatan/Pamunkey people. I created this word search to distribute at my tribe’s museum and wanted to make it available for download and use anywhere. I would love to be able to share what little remains of our lost language.

The Jamestown Yorktown Foundation has a lot of content on Algonquin language if you’re interested in learning more.