At the time of contact, Shawnee speakers were located in Ohio, but the Shawnee moved often throughout their history. The Shawnee now reside in three groups (the Shawnee, the Absentee Shawnee, and the Eastern Shawnee) in Oklahoma. Shawnee is a member of the Central Algonquian branch of the Algic language family. Closely related languages include Meskwaki and Kickapoo. More distantly related languages include Myaamia, Potawatomi, and Menominee.
Selected Language Information
Alford, Thomas Wildcat. 1929. The Four Gospels of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Shawnee Indian Language. Xenia, Ohio: Galloway.
Andrews, Kenneth. 1994. Shawnee Grammar. Doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Chrisley, Ronald L. 1992. An Introduction to the Shawnee Language. North Baltimore, Ohio.
Costa, David J. 2001. Shawnee Noun Plurals. Anthropological Linguistics Vol. 43: 3. 255-287.
Gatschet, Albert S. 1885. Shawano Words, Sentences, and Texts. Gatschet Manuscript 615 Vol. 1.
Voegelin, Carl F. 1935. Shawnee Phonemes. Language Vol. 11: 23-37.
Sample Archival Materials in the Native American Languages Collection
George Blanchard (author). 2017. Forest Animals / Sah Wahn Wah Toh Weh Weh. Shawnee Language Program Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: book. Catalog Number: SLA-005.
Andrews, Kenneth Ralph (author, researcher). 1994. Shawnee grammar. General Field Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: manuscript. Catalog Number: GEN-042.
Anderton, Alice (author), Gwyneth Ayres (author, speaker), Esther Bell (author, speaker), Carl Downing (compiler), Geraldine Greenwood (author, speaker), Linda Harjo (author), Mary Linn (research participant), Sonia Manuel-Dupont (research participant), Vickie Mason (author, speaker), Regina McAfee (author), David S. Rood (research participant), Marie Strickland (author, speaker), Valerie Valdez (author, speaker), Pauline Wahpepah (author, speaker), Akira Yamamoto (research participant). 1992. Some Characteristics of Nouns and Verbs. Akira and Kimiko Yamamato Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: manuscript. Catalog Number: AKY-031.
Berardo, Marcellino (author), Elvina Hill Brown (author), Evelyn Hayes (author), Rosa Mae Bobb Peterson (author), Leona Daugherty Secondine (author). 1996. Sawanwatoweewe: Shawnee Language. Akira and Kimiko Yamamato Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: manuscript. Catalog Number: AKY-160.
—–. 1997. Grammar Sketch of Shawnee. Loretta Fowler Collection. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Department of Native American Languages. Media: manuscript. Catalog Number: LF0-005.
Links
Catalogue of Endangered Languages
