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Rhode Island Native Animal Words

Here are the American Indian names of six native animals of Rhode Island. We have given their names in two different Indian languages: Narragansett and Wampanoag. As you can tell by looking at these words, Narragansett and Wampanoag were pretty similar languages! They both belong to the Algonquian language family.

Can you find one of these animal names that sounds similar in the Native American languages and English? English colonists borrowed the word for this new animal from Algonquian speakers!

Rhode Island Native Animal Names


Narragansett: attuck (pronounced ah-tuck)
Wampanoag: ottucke (pronounced ah-tuck-eh)

Narragansett: aûsup (pronounced aw-sup)
Wampanoag: ausupp (pronounced aw-sup)

Narragansett: wonkis (pronounced wonk-is)
Wampanoag: whauksis (pronounced wawk-sis)

Narragansett: waûtuckques (pronounced waw-tuck-ques)
Wampanoag: motuckquas (pronounced mo-tuck-was)

Narragansett: squnck (pronounced skwunk)
Wampanoag: sakunk (pronounced sah-kunk)

Narragansett: askùg (pronounced a-skoog)
Wampanoag: askooke (pronounced a-skoke)

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