175 



THE ALGONQUIN-LENAPE. 



The Algonkin and Lenape nations are grouped by philologists under the 

 collective name of Algonquin-Lenapes ; yet we observe some physical differences 

 in people of this great family, and they were still more separated by those 

 perpetual hostilities which every where characterise the American tribes. 



When the Europeans first became acquainted with the Algonquin-Lenape 

 nations, they possessed a vast tract of North America, extending from Labrador 

 and Hudson's Bay on the north, to the country of the Florida tribes on the south, 

 while the Mississippi and Atlantic bounded them west and east. It is well known, 

 however, that at the present day many of these tribes inhabit west of the 

 Mississippi, while to the east of that river they are in a geat measure superseded 

 by the white population. It is necessary to remark, however, that in the midst 

 of the Algonquins, and surrounded by them on every side, lived the Iroquois or 

 Five nations. 



It will be observed in the course of this work, that I possess an extensive 

 series of the crania of this widely extended nation, and it may therefore be 

 admissible to give a brief enumeration of the principal communities of which it is 

 composed, arranged in a geographical manner: and I take this occasion to 

 acknowledge that these facts are chiefly derived from the published labors of Mr. 

 Gallatin.* 



The Northern group of the Algonquin-Lenape embraces the Knistenaux or 

 Crees, the Chippeways, the Ottawas, the Potawatomies, the Missasaugas, and the 

 Algonquins proper. All these nations speak dialects so nearly allied, that they may 

 be rather considered as dialects of the same than as distinct languages. The 

 Knistenaux language is less allied to the general type than any of the others, but 

 even here the affinity is very obvious. The Northeastern group included the 

 Micmaks, the Etchemins and the Abenakis, which tribes inhabited the seacoast, 

 and some extent of inland country, from Labrador to the present state of Maine. 

 Among the southernmost of these communities, was the Penobscots, of whom some 

 degraded remains are yet existing. 



The Eastern or Atlantic group^ embraces the New England Indians, or in 

 other words those between the Abenakis and Hudson river; the Long Island 



* Archseolog. Amer. II, p. 23, etc. 



