Weird History: 35

Their Native Tongue

The first Bible printed in America (the new Testament in 1661, and the full text in 1663) was not the King James version, nor was it written in English, French or German. It was written in the Massachusetts Indian dialect—Algonquin. “The Algonquin Bible” or “Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe up-Biblum God naneeswe Nukkone Testament kah wonk Wusku Testament”, as it is technically known, was later translated by John Eliot, a Puritan missionary and published in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The image is from a reprint of the year translated in 1663. I could find no suitable individual pages clear enough in order to read but I can tell you that on the left hand side it was English, and on the right hand side it was written in the original language.

On A Side Note: It wasn’t until the early 1990’s that women were allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor.