On November 4, 2023, Sreeniketh Vogoti ’25 presented at the third annual Munsee Language and History Symposium.
Vogoti, a computer science major who is pursuing a minor in linguistics, and Jamie Tucker, a programmer from the Munsee-Delaware Nation, presented, “Towards a Digital Munsee Dictionary.” In the talk, Vogoti and Tucker discussed their ongoing work creating a digital Munsee dictionary and received feedback from community members.
The project originated after Vogoti received a Derian Summer Internship from the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship to participate in the inaugural Lunaape Language Camp in July 2023. As part of the internship, Vogoti – advised by Christiane Fellbaum (Linguistics) and Catalina Méndez Vallejo (Spanish and Portuguese) – was able to build a prototype for the digital Munsee dictionary with Tucker and discuss its possible applications with language teachers and community members.
The three-day symposium, held at Princeton and the Institute for Advanced Study, is part of a larger community project, which aims to continue and deepen ongoing relationships with Lunaapeewak (Lenape people) from the Munsee-speaking tribal nations currently living in diaspora, bringing them together with Princeton students, staff, and faculty on their own traditional territory, Lunaapahkiing.
The event was presented by the Institute for Advanced Study and co-sponsored by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton, Land, Language, and Art: A Humanities Council Global Initiative, and the Princeton University Library.
