QUESTION:
My 3rd grader is doing a school project on the Algonquain Indians. I have serched the internet for hours before I found a bit of helpful information on your website. Could you please supply me with any other information you have on this tribe?
ANSWER:
Algonquian (or Algonkian) is often used in reference to a tribe. However, Algonquian is not a tribe, it is a language group.
The confusion lies in that the term is loosely used interchangeably to describe the tribal groups who speak dialects in that language group. One tribe in that language group is the Algonquin tribe. The word “Algonquin” means “At the place of spearing fishes and eels,” and is also used in reference to a geographical area, which lies in the uppper north eastern corner of the United States and across the border into Canada.
For more in depth information on this topic, check out these articles on our site:
Algonquian is a language group, not a tribe of Indians
General cultural beliefs of Algonquin speaking tribes
Who were the Algonquin and who are they now ?
Map of Algonquin Territory:
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