American Indian Languages

American Indian Languages

A Synopsis of the Indian Tribes
Within the United States East of the Rocky Mountains, and in the British and Russian Possessions in North America

by Albert Gallatin (1836)

Originally published under the auspices of the American Antiquarian Society in 1836, A Synopsis of the Indian Tribes within the United States East of the Rocky Mountains, and in the British and Russian Possessions in North America is a monumental compendia of Native American language. Authored by statesman, politician, and scholar Albert Gallatin (1761–1849), it is among the finest systematic collections of Native American ethnology and linguistics of its day. Containing invaluable information on some 81 tribes, the volume commences with four sections of introductory matter giving an overview of the history of the various North American tribal groups divided by geography (Section 1: Indian Tribes North of the United States; Section 2: Algonkin-Lenape and the Iroquois; Section 3: Southern Indians; Section 4: Indians West of the Mississippi). Section 5 covers general observations on social and cultural practices and Section 6 begins an in-depth discussion of Indian languages.
Nearly half of this volume is made up of an Appendix dedicated to grammatical notices and vocabularies from dozens of tribes, including the Choctaw, Delaware, Micmac, Wyandot, Cherokee, Eskimo, Massachusett, Sioux, and the various nations of the Iroquois. Of particular note is the Comparative Vocabulary of Fifty-Three Nations which presents a 60-page table of Native words and terms from tribes such as the Ottawa, Nanticoke, Shawnee, Miami, Sauk, Osage, Omaha, Natchez, Pawnee, and dozens of others arranged for easy comparison. Also included is a further comparison of 16 Native languages including Penobscot, Minsi, Nootka, Souriquois, Huron, Woccon, and others. Finally, several short miscellaneous wordlists are included, such as vocabularies of Blackfoot, Powhatan, Cayuga, Iowa, Crow, Shoshonee, Cheyenne, Chinook, Caddo, Seneca, Mohawk, and many others.

2008 ~ 430pp ~ hardcover ~ 978-1-889037-80-0 ~ $85.00

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The American Language Reprint Series

Series Editor: Claudio R. Salvucci

At 30+ volumes and growing, the American Language Reprint (ALR) series aims to compile and preserve the various Indian word-lists, vocabularies, and phrase books which were collected during the early years of North American settlement. These handy, small-format books focus on the languages and dialects of the eastern woodlands, with a primary emphasis on the Eastern Algonquian and Iroquoian families.
Each ALR volume takes an original historical word-list and alphabetizes the words in two sections, from the native language to English and vice-versa. The original orthographies are preserved exactly as they occur, complete with all diacritics and special characters used by the original authors. Several of these vocabularies have been edited and annotated by some of the most prominent linguists of the last two centuries, such as Daniel Brinton, J. Dyneley Prince, and others.

Complete Listing of Titles
in the ALR Series