Dictionnaire François—Onontagué

When the languages of America’s first peoples began to fade from memory, a 19th‑century linguist took it upon himself to rescue the fragile records left by early missionaries. He launched a series of carefully edited volumes, each preserving a manuscript that would otherwise have been lost. This opening volume introduces his mission, showing how a single French‑Onondaga dictionary can become a vital key to understanding a vanished culture.

The core of the book is the dictionary itself, drawn from a 17th‑century manuscript housed in Paris’s Mazarin Library and compiled by a Jesuit who lived among the Onondaga. It records hundreds of entries, pronunciation notes, and grammatical observations that distinguish the language from its Iroquoian relatives. Listeners will hear precise transliterations and insightful commentary that illuminate everyday life, belief, and the natural world as expressed in this once‑vibrant tongue, offering a rare auditory glimpse into a language that shaped the region’s history.