Continued from Christmas Songs of My Ancestors: Early American
My 9th-great grandmother was Wampanoag. She was the second wife of my 9th-great grandfather, who emigrated from England in 1651. They had four children, of which my 8th-great grandfather, born in 1674, was the youngest.
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| Map of Wampanoag lands (southeastern Massachusetts) Noahedits, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons |
Even
though some Wampanoag adopted Christianity, I have no idea about possible songs
that would have been sung at Christmas. Probably none, considering that the
earliest European migrants to their area were Separatists, who did not
celebrate Christmas. Noteworthy, however, is that the first Bible printed in
North America was printed in 1663 in the Wampanoag language.
I could find very few songs in the Wampanoag language. The closest Christmas song I could find to honor my indigenous ancestors was the Huron Carol, which is credited as being Canada's oldest Christmas hymn. The Huron (Wyandot, Wendat, or Huron-Wendat) and Wampanoag peoples are both considered eastern woodlands peoples of North America, but their languages have different roots. Wampanoag is Algonquian in origin, while Wendat is Iroquoian. This Christmas carol is sung in the Huron-Wendat language.
5 comments:
This is awesome!
That was really neat Leigh! The song time definitely added an interesting element.
The Canadian French version is very popular but I don't think I've ever even seen it in English in our American hymnals.
I love The Huron Carol! Very interesting to learn of your heritage! - Jenn
Jenn, good to hear from you. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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