Michigamea is not Dhegiha (Re: Quappa)

[Michael McCafferty]

Quoting Koontz John E <John.Koontz at colorado.edu>:

> On Thu, 22 Sep 2005 mmccaffe at indiana.edu wrote:
> > We know that the m of Akamsea is a mistake made by a copyist, since
> Marquette
> > writes Akansea on his holograph map of the Mississippi.
> 
> I assumed the variant was insignificant.

Indeed, it is, aside from not imputing the spelling to Marquette. That was point
in responding to that point.

  I tried to stay with Thwaites'
> spellings in quoting him, and I think I tended to generalize Akamsea.
> Akansea is correct, of course.  I did tend to gibe strongly as Thwaites'
> spelling Ilinois!

That is a strange one. Islinois is common historically, and Illinois, but
"Ilinois," while certainly possible, is rare.


> 
> > Marquette, previous to the Mississippi voyage, had spent two and half
> > years working with an Illinois boy held as a slave by the Ojibwa. I
> > imagine, given his track record with Algonquian languages, that he was
> > fairly conversant in Miami-Illinois by the time he descended the big
> > river. Certainly the few words from that language that he transcribed,
> > on his Mississippi map and in his autograph narration of his second trip
> > to the Illinois, are nicely done.
> 
> So he probably distinguished Miami-Illinois from other Algonquian
> languages?


Oh, absolutely. He and Claude Allouez, confreres at Chequamegon on Lake
Superior, are the first on record to hear the language. I'm pretty sure there is
a Jesuit reference as to its being both Algonquian and weird (for their
Algonquin-Ojibweyan-habituated ears).


> 
> > It is never stated explicitly that Marquette knew Huron.
> 
> Actually, that's a good point.  Marquette doesn't say who spoke Huron.

Well, actually I would disagree with my own point, in that Marquette did try to
 communicate in Huron with the Mosopelea, to no avail. Given Marquette's known
facility with languages, and the Jesuits' former extensive experience with
Huron, as well as his contact with Huron refugees along Lake Superior (on their
return from the upper Mississippi), he probably did have some ability in the
language.



> Given comments earlier on Jolliet knowing the languages needed for
> operations in French Canada - I forget exactly how this was phrased - it
> may have been he who spoke Huron. 


Now, on this I would disagree, as there is scant if any evidence besides hearsay
that Jolliet had any ability. He had been around the block, to Sault Ste-Marie
and environs, but a factor among French officials in choosing Jolliet for the
Mississippi job was that Marquette would be going along to do the language part.

 It would be interesting to know what
> the six languages Marguette meant were,

I'm not sure anyone knows all six. I've always heard the "six languages" and
that's it. But Montagnais, Ojibwa and Miami-Illinois. Huron could be the fourth,
 in light of the circumstantial evidence, and **dialect variants** of
Algonquin-Ojibwa may have been the other two.

That's three of them.


 but I think we can assume that
> none were Siouan, though he does seem to have spent some time with people
> at the Bay of the Puants, which may imply contact with the Winnebago.

There weren't many Winnebago to speak of by the time he arrived, though. Just a
thought.

Michael


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