Wampanoag Language Making a Revival

Imagine breathing new life into a language that has been dead for more than 150 years?

That is what the Wôpanâak (Wampanaog) Language Reclamation Project is seeking to do. Founded in 1993 by Jessie “Little Doe” Baird of Mashpee, The  Wompanoag Language Reclamation Project is a collaborative effort among the tribes of the Wampanoag Nation.

In 2010, Baird, who lives and teaches in Mashpee, received a MacArthur Foundation’s Genius Award for her work. Baird earned her Masters Degree in Algonquian Linguistics from MIT in 2000.

Wôpanâak was the language spoken by the Native Americans who lived on Cape Cod and the Islands and is one of three dozen languages that fall under the umbrella of the Algonquian Language.

One of Baird’s former students, Nitana Hicks, a Ph.D. student in education at Boston College, teaches Wampanoag in Boston.

Wampanoag language classes are being offered in Mashpee and Boston.

“About 60 people are currently in class,” said Hicks, who has 12 students in her Boston class.

 The language classes are open to members of the Wampanoag Tribe and to their family members.

 “When every Wampanoag person who wants to learn the language is proficient, then classes might be open to the public,” said Hicks, referring to the project’s founding guidelines.

Yet, Hicks and Baird plan to open a Wampanoag Language Charter School.

“A charter school would be open to everyone and we would have to reevaluate that decision,” said Hicks.

How difficult is it to learn a language that has not been spoken in recent history?

When the language was written by the Europeans, as when Rev. John Elliot translated the Bible into Wampanoag in 1663, it was written phonetically.

 “It’s different for different people. It’s not like English at all,” said Hicks.

“The thing I like best about the language is how it has given me a broader understanding of my Wampanoag culture.  Knowing Wôpanâak has helped me understand why we do some of the things we do.”