With National Science Foundation support, Mr. James Rementer and Dr. Bruce Pearson will review and convert to digital format some 1,000 hours of tape-recorded material in the Delaware Indian language dating back to the mid-20th century. Although this language has been studied in the past and belongs to the widely studied Algonquian family, little information about the structure of the language is available in a form that is readily usable by contemporary English-speaking members of the tribe or the general public. The project will result in the digitized preservation of the old analog recordings, many now growing brittle, and will lead to permanent storage of the material in a format that will bring together phonetic renditions of words and phrases, sound files of the words and phrases pronounced by the last generation of native speakers, and in many cases, pictures of cultural items being named. A reference CD that will teach some of the language basics will also be produced and made available to Delaware Tribal members as well as the general public.
In addition to the importance of the project to the 11,000 members of the Oklahoma-based Delaware tribe, the language is historically important. It was once spoken over an area of almost 25,000 square miles, including all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware. and southeastern New York. It was also significant as the language used between the Lenape and the early Dutch, Swedish, and English settlers in the area. It was the medium used to deal with William Penn when he established the Pennsylvania colony in the 17th century. The importance of Lenape continued through the period of American independence and westward expansion to the end of the 19th century. The language remained in use in Oklahoma through the 20th century and survived until August, 2002, in the memory of a 98-year-old man. Some middle-aged tribal members have a limited command of the language, as do a few scholars. The storage format developed for preservation of the materials will facilitate efforts of the Delaware tribe to create language-teaching materials. This documentation will also support the work of linguists, folklorists, and historians in researching narratives contained in the material and in preparing English translations and/or bilingual editions of Delaware texts of interest to a wider public.
