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Along the Atlantic coastline from Canada to the Carolinas, the ocean teemed with fish and shellfish. Here, clustered in coastal villages, lived many nations that spoke related languages.
Each language was distinct from the others, but all the languages shared common elements. That made it possible for people from the Algonquian nations to communicate with one another. Further inland, other Algonquian speakers ranged from the Ohio River valley as far as the western Great Lakes. Besides language, the Algonquians had other things in common. However, there were also differences in the way they lived, based on their widely varied environments.
