Nanticoke Memorial
The Nanticoke language was spoken by the Nanticoke and other nearby Native American tribes in what is now Eastern Shore Delaware and Maryland. With the dissolution of Nanticoke reservations and settlements in the mid 18th century, many Nanticoke relocated northward and westward. Although some remained behind and assimilated into the new order to a degree, much of their culture was lost and their language became extinct. This monument, in Oak Orchard, Delaware, reads: IN MEMORY OF /NWA-GA-OAK-WA /(LYDIA E. CLARK)/DIED 1859/THE LAST OF THE/NANTICOKE INDIANS/IN DELAWARE AND/EASTERN MARYLAND/TO SPEAK THE /NANTICOKE LANGUAGE/ERECTED AS A MEMORIAL/BY THE NATONAL SOCIETY OF/COLONIAL DAMES IN DELAWARE/1927
A 300 word list compiled at the request of Thomas Jefferson in 1792 by William Vans Murray, a United States Representative, still survives. With input from a speaker of the similar Anishnabay language, that list is the basis of a recent attempt to revive the language.
Nanticoke Memorial
The Nanticoke language was spoken by the Nanticoke and other nearby Native American tribes in what is now Eastern Shore Delaware and Maryland. With the dissolution of Nanticoke reservations and settlements in the mid 18th century, many Nanticoke relocated northward and westward. Although some remained behind and assimilated into the new order to a degree, much of their culture was lost and their language became extinct. This monument, in Oak Orchard, Delaware, reads: IN MEMORY OF /NWA-GA-OAK-WA /(LYDIA E. CLARK)/DIED 1859/THE LAST OF THE/NANTICOKE INDIANS/IN DELAWARE AND/EASTERN MARYLAND/TO SPEAK THE /NANTICOKE LANGUAGE/ERECTED AS A MEMORIAL/BY THE NATONAL SOCIETY OF/COLONIAL DAMES IN DELAWARE/1927
A 300 word list compiled at the request of Thomas Jefferson in 1792 by William Vans Murray, a United States Representative, still survives. With input from a speaker of the similar Anishnabay language, that list is the basis of a recent attempt to revive the language.