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Subject: [Q-R] Excerpt Of History
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 12:15:50 EDT
"At the time of their first meeting with the French in 1603, the various
Algonkin bands probably had a combined population somewhere around 6,000. The
British estimate in 1768 was 1,500. Currently, there are almost 8,000 Algonkin
in Canada organized into ten separate First Nations, nine in Quebec and one in
Ontario.
Both Algonkin and Algonquin are correct spellings for the name of the
tribe, but Algonquian either refers to their language or, collectively, to the
group of tribes that speak related Algonquian languages. The source of the
Algonkin is unclear. Other than the names of their bands, the Algonquian do not
appear to have had a name for themselves as a people. Some researchers have
suggested that Algonkin came from the Maliseet word for "ally," but others prefer the
Micmac's "algoomeaking" that translates roughly as, "place of spearing fish
from the bow of a canoe." The most likely possibility is the Maliseet word
alleginka meaning "dancers," which Samuel de Champlain might have mistaken for
their tribal name while watching a combined Algonkin, Maliseet, and Montagnais
victory dance in 1603. The first group of Algonkin that the French encountered
were the Kichesuipirini who, because of their village was located on an island
in the Ottawa River, were called "La Nation de I'llse." At first, Algonkin was
used only for a second group, the Weskarini. However, by 1615 the name was
applied to all of the Algonkin bands living along the river."
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