Become a genius: Learn Wampanoag

By Rob Anderson

Mashpee linguist Jessie Little Doe Baird was recently awarded a "genius grant" by the MacArthur Foundation for her efforts to resurrect Wampanoag, the language of her Native American ancestors. As program director of the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project, Baird has co-authored a 10,000-word Wampanoag-English dictionary and has written several children's books.

While very few people can read or write Wampanoag—Baird believes her daughter is the only person since the 19th century raised from birth to speak the language—there's no good reason why you shouldn't try. In the quiz below, match the animals on the left with their Wampanoag words on the right. Answers after the jump.