nkechaug was part of a chain of related Indigenous Algonquian languages across Long Island and Southern New England, sometimes referred to as Quiripi. In June 1791, not yet president, Thomas Jefferson documented 202 words of the language, noting that three individuals could still speak it. Current Unkechaug tribal members live in Mastic on Poospatuck Reservation, the smallest reservation in New York State, with Chief Harry Wallace one leader in cultural preservation efforts. After receiving a grant from the Long Island Community Trust in 2009, the Unkechaug community has been working to preserve their language through the Algonquian Language Revitalization Project, some of whose goals are to cultivate language teachers and create a combined dictionary of Unkechaug, Montaukett, and Shinnecock languages.