AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES

 

To the teacher: Below are names of Western Indian tribes whose customs and languages were described in the Lewis and Clark journals. This list is by no means exhaustive. These languages were chosen from a much longer list according to the quantity and accessibility of information about each. In order for students to appreciate the considerable differences among American Indian languages, be sure to assign or select at least one language from each language family for this activity.

 

AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGE
ALSO
CALLED or SPELLED...
LANGUAGE FAMILY
BLACKFEET
BLACKFOOT
ALGONQUIAN
CHEYENNE
-
ALGONQUIAN
DELAWARE
UNAMI, LENNI-LENAPE
ALGONQUIAN
KICKAPOO
KIKAPOO, KIKAPU
ALGONQUIAN
SHAWNEE
-
ALGONQUIAN
ARIKARA
REE
CADDOAN
PAWNEE
-
CADDOAN
CHINOOK JARGON
TRADE LANGUAGE
ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER VALLEY
COMBINATION OF CHINOOK, ENGLISH, AND OTHER EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
NEZ PERCE
-
PENUTIAN, SAHAPTIN
UMATILLA
COLUMBIA RIVER SAHAPTIN
PENUTIAN, SAHAPTIN
WALLA WALLA
NORTHEAST SAHAPTIN
PENUTIAN, SAHAPTIN
FLATHEAD
SALISH
SALISH
ASSINIBOINE
-
SIOUAN
CROW
APSAALOOKE
SIOUAN
DAKOTA
-
-
HIDATSA
MINATAREE
SIOUAN
LAKOTA
TETON SIOUX
SIOUAN
OMAHA-PONCA
-
SIOUAN
OSAGE
-
SIOUAN
SHOSHONE
SHOSHONI

UTO-AZTECAN