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Cockenoe and Adoption

Norwalk Islands
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Biography

?-1699

Also known as Kukkineau

Algonquin (Native American) captive and translator

Cockenoe was an Algonquian Indian, captured as a youth by the British (in 1636 or 1637). He became a servant of a British officer, Richard Collicot, where he came to the notice of John Eliot, an English missionary working among the Indians of Massachusetts. He taught Eliot Algonquian which enabled him to translate the entire Bible into Natick Algonquian - the first Bible printed in America. Cockenoe also helped prepare other educational and religious material for Native American converts. An island and harbor in Connecticut are named for him.

References

Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Molin, Paulette. Encyclopedia of Native American Religions: An Introduction. (New York: Facts on File, 1992)