Lenape language
Encyclopedia : L : LE : LEN : Lenape language
Lenape (also called Delaware) is a language in the Algonquian language family spoken by the Lenape people. It had two main dialects, Munsee and Unami. Sometimes the two are treated as separate languages, for example in the Ethnologue.
Munsee, or Minnisink, was spoken in the upper Delaware River (including northern New Jersey), New York, and Long Island Sound. Munsee is now spoken in parts of Canada, on and near the reservations to which Munsee were removed. There is currently only one fluent native speaker remaining, at the reserve at Moraviantown.
Unami was spoken in the lower Delaware River (including central and southern New Jersey) and was most recently spoken in parts of Oklahoma, where Unami-speakers were removed. It is now extinct, though language revitilization work is underway by the Delaware Tribe of Indians.
Lenape is a word in the Unami dialect whose most literal translation into English would be "the people". (The common schoolbook term, Lenni-Lenape is not correct, but translates as, "the original people"). The Lenape names for the area they inhabited were Scheyischbi, which means, "the place bordering the ocean," and Lenapehoking, meaning "place where the people live," although the latter is not universally accepted as historical. [link]
The Order of the Arrow, an afflilate of the Boy Scouts of America, attempts to preserve some legends and language elements of Lenape tribe. Though the national organization of the Order of the Arrow is well meaning, numerous local lodges of the Order of the Arrow do not emulate the customs of the Lenape, but instead mingle the Lenape customs with those of completely disimilar tribes (e.g. the Cherokee).
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