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The Passamaquoddy and Maliseet have lived in the region which now includes eastern Maine (United States) and western New Brunswick (Canada) for thousands of years. Among the first Native peoples to have contact with European voyagers to North America, the Passamaquoddy greeted Samuel de Champlain at the mouth of the St. Croix River in 1604. Passamaquoddy territory embraced the watershed of this river, which today forms the easternmost segment of the U.S.-Canadian border. Maliseet territory consisted of the adjacent St. John River watershed, to the east, and extended northward into present-day Québec. The two peoples’ names for themselves indicate their origins in these territories: the Passamaquoddy are peskotomuhkatiyik ‘people who spear pollock,’ a fish abundant in coastal waters; the Maliseet are wolastoqewiyik ‘people of the St. John River.’ Today there are Passamaquoddy and Maliseet communities on both sides of the border. Although they share a common language, the two peoples are distinct political entities.
This dictionary of Passamaquoddy-Maliseet is the result of more than thirty years’ collaboration among native speakers, educators, and linguists. The 18,000 entries illustrate speakers’ detailed knowledge of the physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional environments in which they live. Sample sentences in the entries, taken from both oral tradition and contemporary conversation, present details of Passamaquoddy-Maliseet thought and culture, personal attitudes, humor, and linguistic ingenuity.
A comprehensive English side helps users of the dictionary discover shades of meaning and patterns of word formation in Passamaquoddy-Maliseet. The dictionary also contains a brief grammatical sketch of the language, pronunciation key, and guides to noun forms and verb conjugations.
1,214 pages, 8.5 x 11, approximately 18,000 Passamaquoddy-Maliseet entries and corresponding English side, with historical and technical introduction, noun forms, verb conjugations, regional map, and pronunciation key.
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