, a way.
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| A way |
Máyi, a way.
From Roger Williams 1643 Algonquian
phrase book, A Key into the Language of America. The word for a way
or foot path was transcribed by Williams from the Narragansett
dialect. James Hammond in his Natick Dictionary published in 1903,
ostensibly derived from the Massachusett, transcribed the word for
path as m'ay or maï. Here, the view along a path looks northeast
towards a fork, Yo chippacháusin, there the way divides.
In the section on Travel, Williams
transcribed the Narragansett compound word Mishimmayagat, “a great
path.” Antiquarians appropriated this, shortening it to
mishimayagat (dropping the euphony), and took what was a path type or
attribute and turned it into a proper name. Mishimayagat, The Great
Path or The Great Path of New England.
Creating a name from such an Algonquian
compound perhaps missed the import of a distinction that Williams was
trying to record. There are ways or paths, Máyi; there are little
ways or paths, Peemáyagat; there are great ways or paths,
Mishimmayagat; and there are stone or rocky paths, Machípscat. In
other words, Williams was describing what were considered to be
typical paths and other types of paths such as wide well-traveled
ways contrasted to small narrow ways. There are paths and there are
paths. There is no suggestion that Williams was saying there was one
single great path or one small path running through southern New
England.
In his Key to the Language of America,
Williams provided phrases and words that described activities and
interactions. His Key was a phrase book for those Colonial English
living near, trading with or traveling among Algonquian speaking
communities. In the section on Travel, he provided words and phrases
that described how to get from here to there, ask directions and
interpret directions. Knowing the difference between the types of
paths probably was relevant to navigating them.
The contrast of path types, a typical
path with a great path for example is also illustrated with
definitions found in James Trumbull's Natick Dictionary, such as
mishekishki or mishe kishki - "broad, wide" or "great
from side to side" and mishonogok may - "(it is) a broad
way."
Greatness or width wasn't strictly an
attribute of paths. Trumbull also provided definitions of the
Algonquian landscape in his book The Composition of Indian
Geographical Names. The attribute mishi, for great, or it's variants
show up in Algonquian compounds such as Mississippi (mishi sipu) or
"great stream," Mystic (mishi tuk) "great tidal
river" (compare to quinni tuk or Connecticutt, "winding
tidal river”), Massachusetts (mishi wadchu set) "near the
great hills," and Mashapaug (mishi paug) "great pond."
A possible loose translation of the
compound “Mishimmayagat” as transcribed by Roger Williams might
be mish 'im 'mayi at, "in” or “on a great way." The
ending -gat possibly being a transcription of the Algonquian locative
suffix “-et,” “-at,” or “-ut,” indicating being in, at
or on as opposed to “-set,” being near. Williams offers two
possible variants, “kat” or “gat” for the suffix, perhaps
determined by the preceeding consonant or vowel (?). By way of
comparison, Trumbull offers mayut, “in, to, or by the way.”
Perhaps in keeping with William's handbook intent (as interpreted
here), it may describe traveling the path, choosing the correct path
to travel.
 |
| Along the way |
The photo above shows a section of a
colonial era route, recorded as a private way, sometimes described as
a particular or private road or bridle path, this as opposed to a
Town Hy Way or Town Road that would have been considered town
property. A survey of this private way was recorded in the town book
in April 1750. Another survey was recorded in April 1752 extended the
route.
Some documents refer to it as a road or
highway but the state of the as-traveled path was the same, as seen
in the photo. The 1750 survey linked three farms and roughly follows,
or parts of it follow, the route of a “road” recorded in 1736
that went past house of the town Constable. The 1752 survey linked
four farms, essentially joining two separate but contiguous roads
together.
A fork in the 1736 road provided a more
direct route, parallel to this section, connecting the distant farms
to the Constable's house and on to the horse shed next to the Meeting
House. It would seem that for the most part, this section, although
recorded, was bypassed and never really used by the public. For early
colonial record keeping, this isn't unusual. Roads were marked and
recorded and never used and roads were used and recorded decades
after the fact. They all started out in the same foot-path state
however. This section of the 1750 private way was officially
discontinued or abandoned in 1867.
One feature of this section of the 1750
private way that calls attention is a well preserved bowl-like
profile such as might be created by foot traffic. Judging by how wide
the indention is and how deep the center is compared to the abutting
grade level, this path was either highly traveled over a long period
or there were a lot more people using it or perhaps cattle driven
along it in Colonial times than is suggested by available written
records. Other recorded roads from the same period that were later
discontinued do not show the same state of use. Between 1730 and
1750 traffic would have been mostly horse and rider, possibly
traveling to and from the Meeting House, although as noted, there was
a more direct route available and apparently used.
This remnant of a private way is a
section of an old ridge-line path a couple of miles from a
traditional Shetucket/Wabaquasett/Mohegan gathering place. It is part
of a network of paths assimilated by the first English colonial
settlers, later expanded on, as documented in town records. This
section of the 1750 private way is perhaps an overlooked and
forgotten m'ay, or Mishi m'ay.
***
A more concise exploration of 17th
Century southern New England Algonquian and the Colonial English
understanding of it can be found in Roger Williams' Key and James
Hammond Trumbull's Indian Names of Places, Composition of Indian
Geographical Names and Trumbull’s Natick Dictionary. Another
accessible resource is Zeisberger's Grammar of the Delaware. We have
inherited a land alive with Algonquian words still eager to be voiced
and understood.
Resources:
Trumbull, J. Hammond, The Composition
of Indian Geographical Names, Illustrated from the Algonkin
Languages, Hartford, 1870; Project Gutenberg, EBook # 18279.
Trumbull, J. Hammond, Natick
Dictionary, A New England Indian Lexicon. Lincoln, 2009.
Williams, Roger, A Key into the
Language of America, London, 1643. Applewood Books, Bedford, 1997.
Zeisberger, David. A Grammar of the
Language of the Lenni Lenape or Deleware Indians. Translated from the
German Manuscript of the late Rev. David Zeisberger, for the American
Philosophical Society, Author(s) Peter Stephen Duponceau.
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 3 (1830),
pp, 65-251. jstor.org.
https://archive.org/
Taken with:
Bessa R, HP5, Processed by
OldSchoolPhotolab.com
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