Native Writings in Massachusett (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 185) [Hardcover]

Ives Goddard (Author), Kathleen J. Bragdon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 087169185X | ISBN-13: 978-0871691859 | Publication Date: April 1, 1988

2 Volume Set: An ed. of all known manuscript writings in the Massachusetts language by native speakers. Because of the significance of these materials for many fields & areas of interest, basic linguistic, historical, & ethnographic analyses are included. Massachusetts is an extinct Eastern Algonquian language spoken aboriginally & in the Colonial period in what is now southeastern Massachusetts. The Indians speaking this language are those referred to as the Massachusetts, the Wampanoags (or Pokanokets), & the Nausets, who inhabited the region encompassing the immediate Boston area & the area east of Narragansett Bay, incl. Cape Cod, the Elizabeth Isl., Martha's Vineyard, & Nantucket. Illus. with original documents. In 2 vol.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 791 pages
• Publisher: Amer Philosophical Society (April 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087169185X
• ISBN-13: 978-0871691859
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,602,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, January 25, 2002

By 

absent_minded_prof (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Native Writings in Massachusett (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 185) (Hardcover)

...already did a good job of describing what to expect from this fascinating book. I would just like to add a few small points.

A reader might have trouble finding Kathleen Bragdon's other, related publication, based on the way the earlier reviewer described it. The correct title of that book is "Native People of Southern New England, 1500-1650." It is very interesting, and it greatly expands the information given in the volume that I'm primarily discussing here.

Another point, which I feel prospective buyers might wish to be aware of, is that "Native Writings in Massachusett" is composed almost entirely of historical minutiae. What I mean by this is that most of the documents here are of extremely slight historical import. Don't expect major treaties, or folk literature. The writings here are fascinating precisely because of their pedestrian, mundane, quotidian nature. They include marriage vows, marginalia from old bibles, personal wills, or land deeds (an issue of overwhelming significance, to be sure, but the actual documents here tend to be of very small transactions). There are about 150 of these short documents. In every case, we first see a xerox of the original, almost always handwritten document, which is usually very faded and difficult to read. There follows a transcription of the Massachusett text. Next, there is a translation into English, or an effort to translate. Sometimes there are words that no one understands anymore...

Volume two is basically a guide to the grammar of the language. Be warned, volume two is written for trained linguists, so it can be difficult to make your way through the pages. There's a lot of linguistics jargon. It isn't like a Berlitz book. Still, I think you should give it a shot -- it's more than worth it. If you need help with the linguistics terminology, try using "A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics," by David Crystal

Beyond these issues, the other reviewer has already made all the salient points, in my opinion. I would just like to add that it really is an amazing experience to leaf through this book. If you live in Eastern Massachusetts, or went to school there, this book has serious potential to enrich your library, and your mind. I grew up mostly in Massachusetts, and I remember always being curious about some of the odd names of places I would hear. Places like Lake Hocomoc, Mount Wachusett, Lake Quinebequin, Lake Quinsigamond, the place called Mishawum... As a child I used to wonder if maybe some of these odd words were perhaps Irish in origin, at least the names of the lakes, as I had friends with the last name Quinn and knew this word to be Irish. Of course, the Irish came to Massachusetts far too late to play a major role in the naming of places. The words that so many of us find to be enthralling are, in fact, of the ancient Massachusett tongue. Today, this tongue is very difficult to find examples of.

It may seem odd to devote attention to the tongue that was spoken in Massachusetts for so long, before the arrival of English. I hope you try to confront this feeling of oddness, and face it down. This book evokes a certain wrenching of one's customary paradigm, when one thinks of the copper-colored folk who lived in Massachusetts for innumerable cycles of years, fishing and hunting, working and playing, living and loving, before the arrival of the English. This book helps you to feel that once Massachusetts was just a place like any other, with no broader significance in the worlds of politics, science, or education. Today the ancient Massachusett tribe exists only in the Ponkapoag band, spread out across many neighborhoods in towns to the south of Boston. Their language is preserved in these magical pages. In fact, this very book has helped a member of the nearby, more populous Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, Jessie "Little Doe" Fermino, to revitalize the almost identical lost Wampanoag tongue.

If you'd like to show some interest and respect for the people who walked the paths, fished the rivers, and knew the forests of Eastern Massachusetts for unknown centuries before our current civilization came into being, you could do worse than to purchase these books. I'd also like to strongly recommend that you alert your local library to its existence.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Native Texts in Photographs and Translation, September 26, 2000

By 

Edward L. Bell (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Native Writings in Massachusett (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 185) (Hardcover)

Goddard and Bragdon did a great service in the compilation of this work, containing "an edition of all known manuscript writings in the Massachusett language by Native speakers." Published in two parts, this book includes photographs of historical manuscript texts with verbatim transcription and English translation. Includes an historical, anthropological, and linguistic introduction to these rare and precious documents, grammatical sketch, and separate indices for Massachusett and English words. Not only for the specialist, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into Native literacy, culture, politics, and worldview in 17th through 19th century Massachusetts. Bragdon's wonderful book, Native Peoples of New England, is well-paired with Native Writings in Massachusetts.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Resource, April 17, 2009

By 

Crow Woman "Native" (Northeastern US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Native Writings in Massachusett (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 185) (Hardcover)

This two book set is the foundation for learning and researching many of the New England native languages. It is invaluable to identify variations in usage which are outside the norm.

Excellent investment - well worth the money