Munsee Language - Geographic Distribution

Geographic Distribution

Speakers of Munsee originally resided in the greater Manhattan area, and the drainage of the Lower Hudson River valley and the upper Delaware River. The arrival of European explorers, traders and settlers resulted in the progressive displacement of Munsee people over a period of several centuries. Munsee groups affected by this process ultimately moved away from their homeland to communities in both the United States and Canada. In the twentieth century, surviving Munsee speakers lived at Six Nations, Ontario and Munceytown, Ontario. Now extinct in both locations, the language is used only at Moraviantown, Ontario. In recent years, the language is being taught to tribal members of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Native Americans, the Ramapough Mountain Indians and the Delaware Nation, Moravian of the Thames Band.