Everything about Lenape Language totally explained
Lenape (also called Delaware [ISO196-3]]) is a language group in the
Algonquian language family spoken by the
Lenape people. It had two closely related languages,
Munsee and [[Unamilanguage|Unami]. Munsee and Unami are not mutually intelligible and in fact have many differences, so linguists treat them as two closely related but separate languages, for example in the
Ethnologue.
Munsee, or Minnisink, was spoken in the upper
Delaware River valley (including northern
New Jersey),
New York, and
Long Island Sound area. 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, Ontario. Until the mid-20th century, there were also speakers at the nearby
Munceytown and
Six Nations reserves. In the early 20th century, there was also a small speaker community at the
Cattaraugus Seneca reservation in upstate New York.
Unami was spoken in the lower Delaware River valley (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 revitalization work is underway by the
Delaware Tribe of Indians.
Lenape is from /lənaːpːe/, a word in the Unami dialect whose most literal translation into
English would be “the real people”. (The common schoolbook term,
Lenni-Lenape isn't correct, but translates as, “the original real-people”). The Lenape names for the area they inhabited were
Scheyichbi, which means, “the place bordering the ocean”, and
Lenapehoking, meaning “place where the people live”, although the latter isn't universally accepted as historical.
The
Order of the Arrow, an affililate of the
Boy Scouts of America, attempts to preserve some legends and language elements of Lenape tribe. However, numerous local lodges of the Order of the Arrow don't emulate the customs of the Lenape alone, but mingle the Lenape customs with those of completely dissimilar tribes (for example, the
Cherokee).
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