Máyi, a way.

From Roger Williams 1643 Algonquian phrase book, A Key into the Language of America. The word for a way or foot path was transcribed by Williams from the Narragansett dialect. James Hammond in his Natick Dictionary published in 1903, ostensibly derived from the Massachusett, transcribed the word for path as m'ay or maï. Here, the view along a path looks northeast towards a fork, Yo chippacháusin, there the way divides.

In the section on Travel, Williams transcribed the Narragansett compound word Mishimmayagat, “a great path.” Antiquarians appropriated this, shortening it to mishimayagat (dropping the euphony), and took what was a path type or attribute and created a proper name: Mishimayagat, The Great Path or to some writers, Mishimayagat, The Great Path of New England.

In creating a proper name from this Algonquian compound, perhaps the import of a distinction that Williams was trying to record was missed. There are ways or paths, Máyi; there are little ways or paths, Peemáyagat; there are great ways or paths, Mishimmayagat; and there are stone or rocky paths, Machípscat. In other words, Williams was describing what were considered to be typical paths and other types of paths such as wide well-traveled ways contrasted to small narrow ways. There are paths and there are paths. There is no suggestion that Williams was saying there was one single great path or one small path running through southern New England.


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In his Key to the Language of America, Williams provided phrases and words that described activities and interactions. His Key was a phrase book for those Colonial English living near, trading with or traveling among Algonquian speaking communities. In the section on Travel, he provided words and phrases that described how to get from here to there, ask directions and interpret directions. Knowing the difference between the types of paths probably was relevant to navigating them.

The contrast of path types, a typical path with a great path for example is also illustrated with definitions found in James Trumbull's Natick Dictionary, such as mishekishki or mishe kishki - "broad, wide" or "great from side to side" and mishonogok may - "(it is) a broad way."

Greatness or width wasn't strictly an attribute of paths. Trumbull also provided definitions of the Algonquian landscape in his book The Composition of Indian Geographical Names. The attribute mishi, for great, or it's variants show up in Algonquian compounds such as Mississippi (mishi sipu) or "great stream," Mystic (mishi tuk) "great tidal river" (compare to wenne or quinni tuk; the Quinecticut or Connecticutt River: a "winding tidal river”), Massachusetts (mishi wadchu set) "near the great hills," and Mashapaug (mishi paug) "great pond."

A possible loose translation of the Narraganset compound “Mishimmayaga,t” as transcribed by Roger Williams, might be mish 'im 'mayi at: being in or going “on a great way." The ending -gat possibly being a transcription of the Algonquian locative suffix “-et,” “-at,” or “-ut,” indicating being in, at or on as opposed to “-set,” being near. Williams offers two possible variants, “kat” or “gat” for the suffix, perhaps determined by the preceding consonant or vowel (?). By way of comparison, Trumbull offers mayut, “in, to, or by the way.” Perhaps in keeping with William's handbook intent (as interpreted here), it may describe traveling the path; or on the way, choosing the correct path to travel. At the fork, take the great way...

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The photo above shows a section of a colonial era route, this recorded in the town book as a private way. These are sometimes described as a particular way or bridle path. The private path would be distinct from a Town High Way or road that would have been considered town or "common" property. A survey of this private way was recorded in the town book in April 1750. Another survey of the same road was recorded in April 1752 extended the route.

Town documents refer to it as a road or highway but the physical state of the as-traveled path was the same, as seen in the photo. The 1750 survey linked three farms and roughly follows, or parts of it follow, the route of another “road” recorded in 1736 that went past house of the town Constable and on to the Meeting House. The 1752 survey linked four farms, essentially joining two separate but contiguous roads together.

A fork in the 1736 road provided a more direct route, parallel to this section, connecting the distant farms to the Constable's house and on to the horse shed next to the Meeting House. Why this route was recorded is not known. It would seem that for the most part, this section, although recorded, was bypassed and never really used by the public. For early colonial record keeping, this isn't unusual. Roads were marked and recorded and never used and roads were used and recorded decades after the fact. They all started out as foot-paths, according to the earliest town records. This section of the 1750 private way was officially discontinued or abandoned in 1867 when the town went through the old surveys, removing the unused routes from any town responsibilities.

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One feature of this section of the 1750 private way that calls attention is a well preserved bowl-like profile such as might be created by foot traffic. Judging by how wide the indention is and how deep the center is compared to the abutting grade level, this path was either highly traveled over a long period or there were a lot more people using it or perhaps cattle driven along it in Colonial times than is suggested by available written records. Other recorded roads from the same period that were later discontinued do not show the same state of use. Between 1730 and 1750 traffic would have been mostly horse and rider, possibly traveling to and from the Meeting House, although as noted, there was a more direct route available and apparently used.

This remnant of a private way is a section of an old ridge-line path a couple of miles from a traditional Shetucket/Wabaquasett/Mohegan gathering place. It is part of a network of paths assimilated by the first English colonial settlers, later expanded on, as documented in town records. This section of the 1750 private way is perhaps an overlooked and forgotten m'ay, or Mishi m'ay.

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A more concise exploration of 17th Century southern New England Algonquian and the Colonial English understanding of it can be found in Roger Williams' Key and James Hammond Trumbull's Indian Names of Places, Composition of Indian Geographical Names and Trumbull’s Natick Dictionary. Another accessible resource is Zeisberger's Grammar of the Delaware. We have inherited a land alive with Algonquian words still eager to be voiced and understood.


Resources:

Trumbull, J. Hammond, The Composition of Indian Geographical Names, Illustrated from the Algonkin Languages, Hartford, 1870; Project Gutenberg, EBook # 18279.

Trumbull, J. Hammond, Natick Dictionary, A New England Indian Lexicon. Lincoln, 2009.

Williams, Roger, A Key into the Language of America, London, 1643. Applewood Books, Bedford, 1997.

Zeisberger, David. A Grammar of the Language of the Lenni Lenape or Deleware Indians. Translated from the German Manuscript of the late Rev. David Zeisberger, for the American Philosophical Society, Author(s) Peter Stephen Duponceau. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 3 (1830), pp, 65-251. jstor.org.

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