Mahican language
| Mahican | |
|---|---|
| Native to | United States |
| Region | New York, Vermont |
| Extinct | ca. 1940 |
|
Algic
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | mahi1248 |
Mahican (also known as Mohican) is an extinct language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself a member of the Algic language family. It was spoken in the territory of present-day eastern New York state and Vermont, by the Mahican people.
Aboriginally, speakers of Mahican lived along the upper Hudson River in New York State, extending as far north as Lake Champlain, east to the Green Mountains in Vermont, and west near Schoharie Creek in New York State. Conflict with the Mohawk of the Iroquois Confederacy in competition for the fur trade, and European encroachment, triggered displacement of the Mahican, some moving to west-central New York, where they shared land with the Oneida. After a series of dislocations, some Mahican were forced to relocate to Wisconsin in the 1820s and 1830s, while others moved to several communities in Canada, where they lost their Mahican identity.
The Mahican language became extinct in the early twentieth century, with the last recorded documentation of Mahican made in the 1930s.
Two distinct Mahican dialects have been identified, Moravian and Stockbridge. These two dialects emerged after 1740 as aggregations arising from the dislocation of Mahican and other groups. The extent of Mahican dialect variation prior to this period is uncertain.
The Stockbridge dialect emerged at , and included groups of New York Mahican, and members of other linguistic groups such as Wappinger (a local Munsee Lenape band), Housatonic, Wyachtonok, and others. After a complex migration history, the Stockbridge group moved to Wisconsin, where they combined with Munsee Lenape migrants from southwestern Ontario. They are now known as the tribe.
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