Western Abenaki
Encyclopedia
The Abenaki are a tribe
of Native American
and First Nations
people, one of the Algonquian
-speaking peoples of northeastern North America
. The Abenaki live in the New England
region of the United States and Quebec
and the Maritimes
of Canada, a region called Wabanaki ("Dawn Land") in the Eastern Algonquian languages
. The Abenaki are one of the five members of the Wabanaki Confederacy
. "Abenaki" is a linguistic and geographic grouping; historically there was not a strong central authority, but as listed below a large number of smaller bands and tribes who shared many cultural traits.
: Lenape
k). They also use the autonym Alnanbal, meaning "men". In addition, when compared to the more interior Algonquian peoples
, they call themselves Wôbanuok, meaning "Easterners" (c.f. Massachusett language
: Wôpanâak). They also refer to themselves as Abenaki or with syncope: Abnaki. Both forms are derived from Wabanaki or the Wabanaki Confederacy
, as they were once a member of this confederacy they called Wôbanakiak, meaning "People of the Dawn Land" in the Abenaki language
— from wôban ("dawn" or "east") and aki ("land") (compare Proto-Algonquian
*wa·pan and *axkyi)—the aboriginal name of the area broadly corresponding to New England
and the Maritimes
. It is sometimes used to refer to all the Algonquian-speaking peoples of the area — Western Abenaki, Eastern Abenaki, Wolastoqiyik-Passamaquoddy
, and Mi'kmaq
— as a single group.
and Eastern Abenaki. Within these groups are the Abenaki bands:
Due to erroneous use of the word Abenaki to mean Wabanaki, all the Abenaki together with the Penobscot people are often described as "Western 'Wabenaki'" peoples, while the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy
are described as "Eastern 'Wabenaki'" peoples.
, southern Quebec
, and the southern Canadian Maritimes. The Eastern Abenaki population was concentrated in portions of Maine
east of New Hampshire
's White Mountains
. The other major tribe, the Western Abenaki, lived in the Connecticut River
valley in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Missiquoi lived along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain
. The Pennacook
lived along the Merrimack River
in southern New Hampshire. The maritime Abenaki lived around the St. Croix and Wolastoq (St. John River) valleys near the boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick
.
The English settlement of New England and frequent wars caused many Abenaki to retreat to Quebec
. The Abenaki settled in the Sillery region of Quebec between 1676 and 1680, and subsequently, for about twenty years, lived on the banks of the Chaudière River
near the falls, before settling in Odanak
and Wôlinak
in the early eighteenth century. The name "Abenaki" was derived from the terms w8bAn (light) and Aki (land), which mean "people in the rising sun" or "people of the East". In those days, the Abenaki practiced a subsistence economy
based on hunting, fishing, trapping, berry picking and on growing corn, beans, squash, potatoes and tobacco. They also produced baskets, made of ash and sweet grass, for picking wild berries, and boiled maple sap to make syrup. Basket weaving remains a traditional activity for members of both communities.
During the Anglo-French wars, the Abenaki were allies of France. An anecdote from this period tells the story of a warrior named Nescambuit
, who killed more than 140 enemies of King Louis XIV of France
and received the rank of knight.
Two tribal communities formed, one once known as Saint-François-du-Lac near Pierreville, Quebec (now called Odanak, Abenaki for "coming home"), and the other near Bécancour
(now known as Wôlinak) on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River
, directly across the river from Trois-Rivières
. These two Abenaki reserves continue to grow and develop. Since the year 2000, the total Abenaki population (on and off reserve) has doubled to 2,101 members in 2011. Approximately 400 Abenaki reside on these two reserves, which cover a total area of less than 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi). The rest are off-reserve members, living in various cities and towns across Canada and the United States.
The development of tourism projects has allowed the Abenaki to develop a modern economy, while preserving their culture and traditions. For example, since 1960, the Odanak Historical Society has managed the first and one of the largest aboriginal museums in Quebec, a few miles from the Quebec-Montreal axis. The Abenaki Museum welcomes more than 5,000 visitors each year. Several Abenaki companies have become very successful: in Wôlinak, General Fiberglass Engineering employs a dozen natives, with annual sales of more than $3 million Canadian dollars. Odanak is now active in transportation and distribution. Well-known Abenaki from this area include the documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin
(National Film Board of Canada
), singer Sylvie Bernard and the former Radio-Canada host Jean-Paul Nolet.
Three Abenaki reservations are located in northern Maine, and seven Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet)
reserves are located in New Brunswick and Quebec. About 2,500 Vermont Abenaki live in Vermont and New Hampshire, without reservations, chiefly around Lake Champlain
. The remaining Abenaki people live in multi-racial towns and cities across Canada and the U.S.A., mainly in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and northern New England.
The Penawapskewi (Penobscot) have a reservation with 2,000 people on Indian Island
at Old Town, Maine
. The Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy)
have three Maine reservations: Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation
, Peter Dana Point, and Indian Township. The Houlton
Band of Maliseet Indians have close to 600 members. Seven bands of Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) are in Canada, with 470 people living in Quebec and 2,000 in New Brunswick.
Another Abenaki community, the Sokoki, is located along the Missisquoi River
(Masipskiwibi) in Vermont, with some community members living in northern New Hampshire. The tribal headquarters for this community is in Swanton, Vermont. Their traditional land is along the river, extending to its outlet at Lake Champlain
.
language. Other neighboring Wabanaki tribes, the Mi'kmaq
, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), and Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy)
, and other Eastern Algonquian languages
share many linguistic similarities. It has come close to extinction as a spoken language. Tribal members are working to revive the Abenaki language at Odanak (means "in the village"), a First Nations Abenaki reserve near Pierreville, Quebec
, and throughout New Hampshire
, Vermont
and New York
state.
; during the reign of Louis XIV
, Chief Assacumbuit
was designated a member of the French nobility for his service.
Facing annihilation from English attacks and epidemic
s of new infectious diseases, the Abenaki started to emigrate to Quebec
around 1669. The governor of New France
allocated two seigneuries
(large self-administered areas similar to feudal fiefs). The first was on the Saint Francis River
and is now known as the Odanak Indian Reservation; the second was founded near Bécancour
and is called the Wolinak Indian Reservation.
The English and French regularly raided each other's settlements with the help of Indian allies. Some captives were adopted into the Mohawk and Abenaki tribes; older captives were generally ransomed, and the colonies carried on a brisk trade. In 1724 during Dummer's War
, the English took the principal Abenaki town in Maine, Norridgewock
, and killed their Catholic
missionary
, Father Sébastien Rale
. The following year a party of English colonists led by John Lovewell, out to collect scalps to redeem for bounties offered by the Province of Massachusetts Bay
, came near an Abenaki village near present-day Fryeburg, Maine. Two returning Abenaki war parties engaged the English, who withdrew after a 10-hour battle. Due to this pressure, more Abenaki emigrated to the settlement on the St. Francis River.
Because many of the Abenaki moved further north as white settlers began to occupy the seacoast and southern areas of New England, when they later attacked the English they were considered raiders invading from Canada.
No Abenaki group has been federally recognized as a tribe in the United States. In 2006, the state of Vermont
officially recognized the Abenaki as a People, but not a Tribe. The state noted that many Abenaki had been assimilated, and only small remnants remained on reservations during and after the French and Indian War
. As noted above, facing annihilation, the Abenaki had begun emigrating to Canada, then under French control, around 1669.
The Sokoki-St. Francis Band of the Abenaki Nation organized a tribal council in 1976 at Swanton, Vermont. Vermont granted recognition of the council the same year, but later withdrew it. In 1982, the band applied for federal recognition, which is still pending.
. The bill would create a state commission on Native American relations, which would act as an advisory group to the governor
and the state government in general. The Abenaki want to gain formal state recognition as a people.
Some people have opposed the bill, as they fear it may lead to Abenaki land claims for property now owned and occupied by European Americans. Others worry that the Abenaki may use recognition as a step toward opening a casino. But, the bill specifically says that "this act shall not be interpreted to provide any Native American or Abenaki person with any other special rights or privileges that the state does not confer on or grant to other state residents." New Hampshire has considered expanding gambling separate from the Native Americans.
The council would be under the Department of Cultural Resources, so it would be in the same department as the State Council on the Arts. The bill would allow for the creation and sale of goods to be labeled as Native-made, to create a source of income for the Natives in New Hampshire.
The numerous groups of Natives in the state have created a New Hampshire Inter-tribal Council, which holds statewide meetings and powwow
s. Dedicated to preserving the culture of the Natives in New Hampshire, the group is one of the chief supporters of the HB 1610; the Abenaki, the main tribe in the state, are the only people named specifically in the bill.
The Vermont
Elnu (Jamaica
) and Nulhegan (Brownington
) bands' application for official recognition was recommended and referred to the Vermont General Assembly
by the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs on January 19, 2011, as a result of a process established by the Vermont legislature in 2010. Recognition allows applicants to seek scholarship funds reserved for American Indians and to receive federal "native made" designation for the bands' arts and crafts. The Koasek of the Koas (Newbury
) band and the state's largest band, the Missisquoi, have also requested recognition.
The Abenaki were described in the Jesuit Relations as not cannibals
, and as docile, ingenious, temperate in the use of liquor, and not profane.
All Abenaki tribes lived a lifestyle similar to the Algonquian-speaking peoples of southern New England. They cultivated crops for food, and located their villages on or near fertile river floodplains. Other less major, but still important, parts of their diet included game and fish from hunting and fishing, and wild plants.
They lived in scattered bands of extended families for most of the year. Each man had different hunting territories inherited through his father. Unlike the Iroquois
, the Abenaki were patrilineal. Bands came together during the spring and summer at temporary villages near rivers, or somewhere along the seacoast for planting and fishing. These villages occasionally had to be fortified, depending on the alliances and enemies of other tribes or of Europeans near the village. Abenaki villages were quite small when compared to those of the Iroquois; the average number of people was about 100.
Most Abenaki crafted dome-shaped, bark-covered wigwam
s for housing, though a few preferred oval-shaped long houses. During the winter, the Abenaki lived in small groups further inland. The homes there were bark-covered wigwams shaped in a way similar to the teepees of the Great Plains
Indians. During the winter, the Abenaki lined the inside of their conical wigwams with bear and deer skins for warmth. The Abenaki also built long houses similar to those of the Iroquois.
The Abenaki hold on to their traditions and ways of life in several ways. The Sokoki do so in the current constitution for their government. It has a chief, a council of elders, and methods and means for election to the council and chieftainship, as well as requirements for citizenship in the tribe. They also list many of the different traditions they uphold, such as the different dances they perform and what those dances mean. During several of these dances there is no photography allowed, out of respect for the culture. For several, there are instructions such as "All stand while it is sung" or "All Stand to Show Respect."
Changes in the hair style were symbolic of a complex courtship process. The man would give the woman a box made of a fine wood, which was decorated with the virtues of the woman; the woman would give a similar box to the man. Everyone in the tribe must agree to the marriage. They erect a pole planted in the earth, and if anyone disagrees, he strikes the pole. The disagreement must be resolved or the marriage does not happen.
The Abenaki were a patrilineal society, which was common among New England tribes. In this they differed from the six Iroquois tribes to the west in New York, and from many other North American Indian tribes who had matrilineal societies. In those systems, women controlled property and hereditary leadership was passed through the women's line. Children born to a married couple belonged to the mother's clan, and her eldest brother was an important mentor, especially for boys. The biological father had a lesser role.
Group decision-making was done by a consensus method. The idea is that every group (family, band, tribe, etc.) must have equal say, so each group would elect a spokesperson. Each smaller group would send the decision of the group to an impartial facilitator. If there was a disagreement, the facilitator would tell the groups to discuss again. In addition to the debates, there was a goal of total understanding for all members. If there was not total understanding, the debate would stop until there was understanding.
When the tribal members debate issues, they consider the Three Truths:
These truths guide all group deliberations, and the goal is to reach a consensus. If there is no consensus for change, they agree to keep the status quo
.
is a major part of Abenaki culture. It is used not only as entertainment but also as a teaching method. The Abenaki view stories as having lives of their own and being aware of how they are used. Stories were used as a means of teaching children behavior. Children were not to be mistreated, and so instead of punishing the child, they would be told a story.
One of the stories is of Azban the Raccoon. This is a story about a proud raccoon
that challenges a waterfall
to a shouting contest. When the waterfall does not respond, Azban dives into the waterfall to try and outshout it; he is swept away because of his pride
. This story would be used to show a child the pitfalls of pride.
in 1586. Multiple epidemics arrived a decade prior to the English settlement of Massachusetts in 1620, when three separate sicknesses swept across New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Maine was hit very hard during the year of 1617, with a fatality rate of 75%, and the population of the Eastern Abenaki fell to about 5,000. The more isolated Western Abenaki suffered fewer fatalities, losing about half of their original population of 10,000.
The new diseases continued to strike in epidemics, starting with smallpox
in 1631, 1633, and 1639. Seven years later, an unknown epidemic struck, with influenza
passing through the following year. Smallpox affected the Abenaki again in 1649, and diphtheria
came through 10 years later. Smallpox struck in 1670, and influenza in 1675. Smallpox affected the Native Americans in 1677, 1679, 1687, along with measles
, 1691, 1729, 1733, 1755, and finally in 1758.
The Abenaki population continued to decline, but in 1676, they took in thousands of refugees from many southern New England tribes displaced by settlement and King Philip's War
. Because of this, descendants of nearly every southern New England Algonquian tribe can be found among the Abenaki people. A century later, fewer than 1,000 Abenaki remained after the American Revolution
.
The population has recovered to nearly 12,000 total in the United States and Canada.
The Abenaki are featured in Charles McCarry
's historical novel, Bride of the Wilderness (1988), set in the eighteenth century; and Jodi Picoult
's Second Glance (2003), in the contemporary world. Books for younger readers both have historical settings: Joseph Bruchac
's The Arrow Over the Door (1998) (grades 4-6) is set in 1777; and Beth Kanell's young adult novel, The Darkness Under the Water (2008), concerns a young Abenaki-French Canadian girl during the time of the Vermont Eugenics Project, 1931-1936.
The Abenaki phrase Awasiwi Odanak ("far from the village") is used by Jed Bartlet in The West Wing TV series, in describing his remote home in New Hampshire.
(1702); Elizabeth Hanson (1728); Susannah Willard Johnson
(1754); and Jemima Howe (1792).
(from north to south):
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
of Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
people, one of the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking peoples of northeastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The Abenaki live in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region of the United States and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
of Canada, a region called Wabanaki ("Dawn Land") in the Eastern Algonquian languages
Eastern Algonquian languages
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages collectively occupying the Atlantic coast of North America and adjacent inland areas, from the Canadian Maritime provinces to...
. The Abenaki are one of the five members of the Wabanaki Confederacy
Wabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy, as it is known in English, is a historical confederation of five North American Algonquian language speaking Indian tribes....
. "Abenaki" is a linguistic and geographic grouping; historically there was not a strong central authority, but as listed below a large number of smaller bands and tribes who shared many cultural traits.
Name
The Abenaki people call themselves Alnôbak, meaning "Real People" (c.f., Lenape languageLenape language
The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages, are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family...
: Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
k). They also use the autonym Alnanbal, meaning "men". In addition, when compared to the more interior Algonquian peoples
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
, they call themselves Wôbanuok, meaning "Easterners" (c.f. Massachusett language
Massachusett language
The Massachusett language was a Native American language, a member of the Algonquian language family. It is also known as Wôpanâak , Natick, and Pokanoket....
: Wôpanâak). They also refer to themselves as Abenaki or with syncope: Abnaki. Both forms are derived from Wabanaki or the Wabanaki Confederacy
Wabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy, as it is known in English, is a historical confederation of five North American Algonquian language speaking Indian tribes....
, as they were once a member of this confederacy they called Wôbanakiak, meaning "People of the Dawn Land" in the Abenaki language
Abenaki language
The Abenaki language is a dialect continuum within the Eastern Algonquian languages, originally spoken in what is now Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts and Maine...
— from wôban ("dawn" or "east") and aki ("land") (compare Proto-Algonquian
Proto-Algonquian language
Proto-Algonquian is the name given to the proto-language from which the various languages of the Algonquian family are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but on the question of where it was spoken there is less agreement...
*wa·pan and *axkyi)—the aboriginal name of the area broadly corresponding to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
. It is sometimes used to refer to all the Algonquian-speaking peoples of the area — Western Abenaki, Eastern Abenaki, Wolastoqiyik-Passamaquoddy
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
, and Mi'kmaq
Mi'kmaq language
The Mi'kmaq language is an Eastern Algonquian language spoken by nearly 9,100 Mi'kmaq in Canada and the United States out of a total ethnic Mi'kmaq population of roughly 20,000. The word Mi'kmaq is a plural word meaning 'my friends' ; the adjectival form is Míkmaw...
— as a single group.
Subdivisions
Historically, ethnologists have classified the Abenaki as groups: Western AbenakiWestern Abenaki
The Abenaki are a tribe of Native American and First Nations people, one of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of northeastern North America. The Abenaki live in the New England region of the United States and Quebec and the Maritimes of Canada, a region called Wabanaki in the Eastern Algonquian...
and Eastern Abenaki. Within these groups are the Abenaki bands:
- Western Abenaki
- Amoskeay
- Cocheco
- Cowasuck
- Koasek (Coos)
- Masipskwoik (MissiquoiMissiquoiThe Missiquoi or the Missisquoi are a Native American tribe located in the Wabanaki region of what now is northern Vermont and southern Quebec. This Algonquian group is a sub-group of the Abenaki who lived along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain at the time of the European incursion...
), also known as Sokoki - NashuaNashawayThe Nashaway were a tribe of Algonquian Indians inhabiting the upstream portions of the Nashua River valley in what is now the northern half of Worcester County, Massachusetts, mainly in the vicinity of Sterling, Lancaster and other towns near Mount Wachusett...
- Ossipee
- Pemigewasset
- PennacookPennacookThe Pennacook, also known by the names Merrimack and Pawtucket, were a North American people that primarily inhabited the Merrimack River valley of present-day New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as well as portions of southern Maine...
- PequawketPequawketThe Pequawket are a Native American subdivision of the Abenaki people who formerly lived near the headwaters of the Saco River in Carroll County, New Hampshire and Oxford County, Maine...
- Piscataqua
- Souhegan
- Winnibisauga
- Eastern Abenaki
- Amaseconti
- Alessikantekw (Androscoggin)
- Kinipekw (Kennebec)
- Odanak
- Ossipee
- Panawahpskek (Penobscot; now considered a separate tribe)
- Apikwahki
- Rocameca
- Wawinak
- Wôlinak
Due to erroneous use of the word Abenaki to mean Wabanaki, all the Abenaki together with the Penobscot people are often described as "Western 'Wabenaki'" peoples, while the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
are described as "Eastern 'Wabenaki'" peoples.
Location
The homeland of the Abenaki, which they call Ndakinna (our land), extended across most of northern New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, southern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and the southern Canadian Maritimes. The Eastern Abenaki population was concentrated in portions of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
east of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
's White Mountains
White Mountains (New Hampshire)
The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
. The other major tribe, the Western Abenaki, lived in the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
valley in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Missiquoi lived along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
. The Pennacook
Pennacook
The Pennacook, also known by the names Merrimack and Pawtucket, were a North American people that primarily inhabited the Merrimack River valley of present-day New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as well as portions of southern Maine...
lived along the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
in southern New Hampshire. The maritime Abenaki lived around the St. Croix and Wolastoq (St. John River) valleys near the boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
.
The English settlement of New England and frequent wars caused many Abenaki to retreat to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The Abenaki settled in the Sillery region of Quebec between 1676 and 1680, and subsequently, for about twenty years, lived on the banks of the Chaudière River
Chaudière River
The Chaudière River is a long river with its source near the Town of Lac-Mégantic, in southeast Quebec, Canada. From its source Lake Megantic in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, it runs northwards to flow into the St. Lawrence River opposite Quebec City...
near the falls, before settling in Odanak
Odanak, Quebec
Odanak is an Indian reserve in the Centre-du-Québec region, Quebec, Canada. The mostly Abenaki population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 469. The territory is located near the mouth of the Saint-François River at its confluence with the St. Lawrence River. It is partly within the limits of...
and Wôlinak
Wôlinak, Quebec
Wôlinak is an Abenaki Indian reserve in the Centre-du-Québec region, Quebec, Canada. An enclave within the city of Bécancour, it was one of the Seven Nations of Canada.-External links:**...
in the early eighteenth century. The name "Abenaki" was derived from the terms w8bAn (light) and Aki (land), which mean "people in the rising sun" or "people of the East". In those days, the Abenaki practiced a subsistence economy
Subsistence economy
A subsistence economy is an economy which refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth. Capital can be generally defined as assets invested with the expectation that their value will increase, usually because there is the...
based on hunting, fishing, trapping, berry picking and on growing corn, beans, squash, potatoes and tobacco. They also produced baskets, made of ash and sweet grass, for picking wild berries, and boiled maple sap to make syrup. Basket weaving remains a traditional activity for members of both communities.
During the Anglo-French wars, the Abenaki were allies of France. An anecdote from this period tells the story of a warrior named Nescambuit
Nescambious
Nescambious , was a Native American leader of the Pequawket tribe of the Abenaki who was knighted by Louis XIV of France in 1706. He was first associated with the French in the siege of Fort St. John led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1695 during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign...
, who killed more than 140 enemies of King Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and received the rank of knight.
Two tribal communities formed, one once known as Saint-François-du-Lac near Pierreville, Quebec (now called Odanak, Abenaki for "coming home"), and the other near Bécancour
Bécancour, Quebec
Bécancour is a town in the Centre-du-Québec region of Québec, Canada; it is the seat of the Bécancour Regional County Municipality. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Bécancour River, opposite Trois-Rivières.Wôlinak, an Abenaki Indian reserve, is...
(now known as Wôlinak) on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, directly across the river from Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...
. These two Abenaki reserves continue to grow and develop. Since the year 2000, the total Abenaki population (on and off reserve) has doubled to 2,101 members in 2011. Approximately 400 Abenaki reside on these two reserves, which cover a total area of less than 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi). The rest are off-reserve members, living in various cities and towns across Canada and the United States.
The development of tourism projects has allowed the Abenaki to develop a modern economy, while preserving their culture and traditions. For example, since 1960, the Odanak Historical Society has managed the first and one of the largest aboriginal museums in Quebec, a few miles from the Quebec-Montreal axis. The Abenaki Museum welcomes more than 5,000 visitors each year. Several Abenaki companies have become very successful: in Wôlinak, General Fiberglass Engineering employs a dozen natives, with annual sales of more than $3 million Canadian dollars. Odanak is now active in transportation and distribution. Well-known Abenaki from this area include the documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin
Alanis Obomsawin
Alanis Obomsawin, OC is a Canadian filmmaker of Abenaki descent. Born in New Hampshire, and raised primarily in Quebec, she has produced and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations culture and history...
(National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
), singer Sylvie Bernard and the former Radio-Canada host Jean-Paul Nolet.
Three Abenaki reservations are located in northern Maine, and seven Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet)
Maliseet people
The Wolastoqiyik, or Maliseet , are an Algonquian-speaking Native American/First Nations/Aboriginal people of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Saint John River valley and its tributaries, crossing the borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and Maine in the...
reserves are located in New Brunswick and Quebec. About 2,500 Vermont Abenaki live in Vermont and New Hampshire, without reservations, chiefly around Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
. The remaining Abenaki people live in multi-racial towns and cities across Canada and the U.S.A., mainly in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and northern New England.
The Penawapskewi (Penobscot) have a reservation with 2,000 people on Indian Island
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation is an Indian reservation for the Penobscot tribe in Penobscot County, Maine, United States near Old Town. The population was 562 at the 2000 census. A small, uninhabited part of the reservation is in Aroostook County. The reservation is home to a small museum, as...
at Old Town, Maine
Old Town, Maine
Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,840 at the 2010 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on a relatively large island, though its boundaries extend beyond that...
. The Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy)
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
have three Maine reservations: Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation, also known as Sipayik, is an Indian reservation in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 640 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, Peter Dana Point, and Indian Township. The Houlton
Houlton, Maine
Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the United States – Canada border, located at . As of the 2010 census, the town population was 6,123. It is perhaps best known as being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and for being the birthplace of Samantha Smith...
Band of Maliseet Indians have close to 600 members. Seven bands of Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) are in Canada, with 470 people living in Quebec and 2,000 in New Brunswick.
Another Abenaki community, the Sokoki, is located along the Missisquoi River
Missisquoi River
The Missisquoi River is a tributary of Lake Champlain, approximately 80 mi long, in northern Vermont in the United States and southern Quebec in Canada. It drains a rural area of the northern Green Mountains along the US-Canada border northeast of Lake Champlain, and an area of Quebec's Eastern...
(Masipskiwibi) in Vermont, with some community members living in northern New Hampshire. The tribal headquarters for this community is in Swanton, Vermont. Their traditional land is along the river, extending to its outlet at Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
.
Language
The Abenaki language is closely related to the Panawahpskek (Penobscot)Penobscot
The Penobscot are a sovereign people indigenous to what is now Maritime Canada and the northeastern United States, particularly Maine...
language. Other neighboring Wabanaki tribes, the Mi'kmaq
Mi'kmaq language
The Mi'kmaq language is an Eastern Algonquian language spoken by nearly 9,100 Mi'kmaq in Canada and the United States out of a total ethnic Mi'kmaq population of roughly 20,000. The word Mi'kmaq is a plural word meaning 'my friends' ; the adjectival form is Míkmaw...
, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), and Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy)
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
, and other Eastern Algonquian languages
Eastern Algonquian languages
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages collectively occupying the Atlantic coast of North America and adjacent inland areas, from the Canadian Maritime provinces to...
share many linguistic similarities. It has come close to extinction as a spoken language. Tribal members are working to revive the Abenaki language at Odanak (means "in the village"), a First Nations Abenaki reserve near Pierreville, Quebec
Pierreville, Quebec
Pierreville is a community in Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Saint-François rivers, at the edge of Lac Saint-Pierre. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,337....
, and throughout New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state.
History
In 1614, Thomas Hunt captured 24 young Abenaki people and took them to England. During the European colonization of North America, the land occupied by the Abenaki was in the area between the new colonies of English in Massachusetts and the French in Quebec. Since no party agreed to territorial boundaries, there was regular conflict among them. The Abenaki were traditionally allied with the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
; during the reign of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, Chief Assacumbuit
Nescambious
Nescambious , was a Native American leader of the Pequawket tribe of the Abenaki who was knighted by Louis XIV of France in 1706. He was first associated with the French in the siege of Fort St. John led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1695 during the Avalon Peninsula Campaign...
was designated a member of the French nobility for his service.
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
s of new infectious diseases, the Abenaki started to emigrate to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
around 1669. The governor of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
allocated two seigneuries
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
(large self-administered areas similar to feudal fiefs). The first was on the Saint Francis River
Saint-François River
The Saint-François River is a river in the Canadian province of Quebec.The Saint-François takes its source from Lake Saint-François in Chaudière-Appalaches, southeast of Thetford Mines...
and is now known as the Odanak Indian Reservation; the second was founded near Bécancour
Bécancour, Quebec
Bécancour is a town in the Centre-du-Québec region of Québec, Canada; it is the seat of the Bécancour Regional County Municipality. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Bécancour River, opposite Trois-Rivières.Wôlinak, an Abenaki Indian reserve, is...
and is called the Wolinak Indian Reservation.
The English and French regularly raided each other's settlements with the help of Indian allies. Some captives were adopted into the Mohawk and Abenaki tribes; older captives were generally ransomed, and the colonies carried on a brisk trade. In 1724 during Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
, the English took the principal Abenaki town in Maine, Norridgewock
Norridgewock
The Norridgewock were a band of the Abenaki Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The tribe occupied an area in Maine to the west and northwest of the Penawapskewi tribe, which was located on the western bank of the Penobscot River...
, and killed their Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, Father Sébastien Rale
Sébastien Rale
Sébastien Rale, , , was a Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who worked among the eastern Abenaki people, but became caught up in political and military struggles between New France, New England and the natives, which would claim his life during Dummer's War.-Early years:Born in Pontarlier, France,...
. The following year a party of English colonists led by John Lovewell, out to collect scalps to redeem for bounties offered by the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
, came near an Abenaki village near present-day Fryeburg, Maine. Two returning Abenaki war parties engaged the English, who withdrew after a 10-hour battle. Due to this pressure, more Abenaki emigrated to the settlement on the St. Francis River.
Because many of the Abenaki moved further north as white settlers began to occupy the seacoast and southern areas of New England, when they later attacked the English they were considered raiders invading from Canada.
No Abenaki group has been federally recognized as a tribe in the United States. In 2006, the state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
officially recognized the Abenaki as a People, but not a Tribe. The state noted that many Abenaki had been assimilated, and only small remnants remained on reservations during and after the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. As noted above, facing annihilation, the Abenaki had begun emigrating to Canada, then under French control, around 1669.
The Sokoki-St. Francis Band of the Abenaki Nation organized a tribal council in 1976 at Swanton, Vermont. Vermont granted recognition of the council the same year, but later withdrew it. In 1982, the band applied for federal recognition, which is still pending.
New Hampshire and minority recognition
In New Hampshire the Abenaki, along with other Native American groups, have proposed legislation for recognition as a minority group. This bill was debated in 2010 in the state legislatureNew Hampshire General Court
The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 members...
. The bill would create a state commission on Native American relations, which would act as an advisory group to the governor
Governor of New Hampshire
The Governor of the State of New Hampshire is the supreme executive magistrate of the U.S. state of New Hampshire.The governor is elected at the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Vermont, to hold...
and the state government in general. The Abenaki want to gain formal state recognition as a people.
Some people have opposed the bill, as they fear it may lead to Abenaki land claims for property now owned and occupied by European Americans. Others worry that the Abenaki may use recognition as a step toward opening a casino. But, the bill specifically says that "this act shall not be interpreted to provide any Native American or Abenaki person with any other special rights or privileges that the state does not confer on or grant to other state residents." New Hampshire has considered expanding gambling separate from the Native Americans.
The council would be under the Department of Cultural Resources, so it would be in the same department as the State Council on the Arts. The bill would allow for the creation and sale of goods to be labeled as Native-made, to create a source of income for the Natives in New Hampshire.
The numerous groups of Natives in the state have created a New Hampshire Inter-tribal Council, which holds statewide meetings and powwow
PowWow
PowWow is a wireless sensor network mote developed by the Cairn team of IRISA/INRIA. The platform is currently based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard radio transceiver and on an MSP430 microprocessor...
s. Dedicated to preserving the culture of the Natives in New Hampshire, the group is one of the chief supporters of the HB 1610; the Abenaki, the main tribe in the state, are the only people named specifically in the bill.
Vermont and minority recognition
On April 22, 2011, Vermont officially recognized two additional Abenaki bands: the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk-Abenaki and the El Nu Abenaki Tribe.The Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
Elnu (Jamaica
Jamaica, Vermont
Jamaica is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 946 at the 2000 census. Jamaica includes the villages of East Jamaica and Rawsonville....
) and Nulhegan (Brownington
Brownington, Vermont
Brownington is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 885 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.4 square miles , of which 28.3 square miles is land and 0.1 square mile is...
) bands' application for official recognition was recommended and referred to the Vermont General Assembly
Vermont General Assembly
The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself...
by the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs on January 19, 2011, as a result of a process established by the Vermont legislature in 2010. Recognition allows applicants to seek scholarship funds reserved for American Indians and to receive federal "native made" designation for the bands' arts and crafts. The Koasek of the Koas (Newbury
Newbury (town), Vermont
Newbury is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,955 at the 2000 census. Newbury includes the villages of Newbury, Center Newbury, West Newbury, South Newbury, Boltonville, Peach Four Corners, and Wells River.-History:...
) band and the state's largest band, the Missisquoi, have also requested recognition.
Culture
There are a dozen variations of the name "Abenaki", such as Abenaquiois, Abakivis, Quabenakionek, Wabenakies and others.The Abenaki were described in the Jesuit Relations as not cannibals
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, and as docile, ingenious, temperate in the use of liquor, and not profane.
All Abenaki tribes lived a lifestyle similar to the Algonquian-speaking peoples of southern New England. They cultivated crops for food, and located their villages on or near fertile river floodplains. Other less major, but still important, parts of their diet included game and fish from hunting and fishing, and wild plants.
They lived in scattered bands of extended families for most of the year. Each man had different hunting territories inherited through his father. Unlike the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, the Abenaki were patrilineal. Bands came together during the spring and summer at temporary villages near rivers, or somewhere along the seacoast for planting and fishing. These villages occasionally had to be fortified, depending on the alliances and enemies of other tribes or of Europeans near the village. Abenaki villages were quite small when compared to those of the Iroquois; the average number of people was about 100.
Most Abenaki crafted dome-shaped, bark-covered wigwam
Wigwam
A wigwam or wickiup is a domed room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast...
s for housing, though a few preferred oval-shaped long houses. During the winter, the Abenaki lived in small groups further inland. The homes there were bark-covered wigwams shaped in a way similar to the teepees of the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
Indians. During the winter, the Abenaki lined the inside of their conical wigwams with bear and deer skins for warmth. The Abenaki also built long houses similar to those of the Iroquois.
The Abenaki hold on to their traditions and ways of life in several ways. The Sokoki do so in the current constitution for their government. It has a chief, a council of elders, and methods and means for election to the council and chieftainship, as well as requirements for citizenship in the tribe. They also list many of the different traditions they uphold, such as the different dances they perform and what those dances mean. During several of these dances there is no photography allowed, out of respect for the culture. For several, there are instructions such as "All stand while it is sung" or "All Stand to Show Respect."
Hair style and other marriage traditions
Traditionally, Abenaki men kept their hair long and loose. When a man would find a girlfriend, he would tie his hair. When he married, he would attach the hair of the scalp with a piece of leather and shave all but the ponytail. The modernized spiritual version has the man with a girlfriend tying his hair and braiding it. When he marries, he keeps all his hair in a braid, shaving only the side and back of the head. The spiritual meaning surrounding this cut is most importantly to indicate betrothal or fidelity as a married Abenaki man. In much the same way as the Christian marriage tradition, there is an (optional) exchange and blessing of wedding rings. These rings are the outward and visible sign of the unity of this couple.Changes in the hair style were symbolic of a complex courtship process. The man would give the woman a box made of a fine wood, which was decorated with the virtues of the woman; the woman would give a similar box to the man. Everyone in the tribe must agree to the marriage. They erect a pole planted in the earth, and if anyone disagrees, he strikes the pole. The disagreement must be resolved or the marriage does not happen.
Gender, food, division of labor, and other cultural traits
The Abenaki were a farming society that supplemented agriculture with hunting and gathering. Generally the men were the hunters. The women tended the fields and grew the crops. In their fields, they planted the crops in groups of "sisters". The three sisters were grown together: the stalk of corn supported the beans, and squash or pumpkins provided ground cover and reduced weeds.The Abenaki were a patrilineal society, which was common among New England tribes. In this they differed from the six Iroquois tribes to the west in New York, and from many other North American Indian tribes who had matrilineal societies. In those systems, women controlled property and hereditary leadership was passed through the women's line. Children born to a married couple belonged to the mother's clan, and her eldest brother was an important mentor, especially for boys. The biological father had a lesser role.
Group decision-making was done by a consensus method. The idea is that every group (family, band, tribe, etc.) must have equal say, so each group would elect a spokesperson. Each smaller group would send the decision of the group to an impartial facilitator. If there was a disagreement, the facilitator would tell the groups to discuss again. In addition to the debates, there was a goal of total understanding for all members. If there was not total understanding, the debate would stop until there was understanding.
When the tribal members debate issues, they consider the Three Truths:
- Peace: Is this preserved?
- Righteousness: Is it moral?
- Power: Does it preserve the integrity of the group?
These truths guide all group deliberations, and the goal is to reach a consensus. If there is no consensus for change, they agree to keep the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
.
Storytelling
StorytellingStorytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
is a major part of Abenaki culture. It is used not only as entertainment but also as a teaching method. The Abenaki view stories as having lives of their own and being aware of how they are used. Stories were used as a means of teaching children behavior. Children were not to be mistreated, and so instead of punishing the child, they would be told a story.
One of the stories is of Azban the Raccoon. This is a story about a proud raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
that challenges a waterfall
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
to a shouting contest. When the waterfall does not respond, Azban dives into the waterfall to try and outshout it; he is swept away because of his pride
Pride
Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two common meanings. With a negative connotation, pride refers to an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris...
. This story would be used to show a child the pitfalls of pride.
Population and epidemics
Before the Abenaki — except the Pennacook and Mi'kmaq — had contact with the European world, their population may have numbered as many as 40,000. Around 20,000 would have been Eastern Abenaki, another 10,000 would have been Western Abenaki, and the last 10,000 would have been Maritime Abenaki. Early contacts with European fisherman resulted in two major epidemics that affected Abenaki during the 16th century. The first epidemic was an unknown sickness occurring sometime between 1564 and 1570, and the second one was typhusTyphus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
in 1586. Multiple epidemics arrived a decade prior to the English settlement of Massachusetts in 1620, when three separate sicknesses swept across New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Maine was hit very hard during the year of 1617, with a fatality rate of 75%, and the population of the Eastern Abenaki fell to about 5,000. The more isolated Western Abenaki suffered fewer fatalities, losing about half of their original population of 10,000.
The new diseases continued to strike in epidemics, starting with smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
in 1631, 1633, and 1639. Seven years later, an unknown epidemic struck, with influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
passing through the following year. Smallpox affected the Abenaki again in 1649, and diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
came through 10 years later. Smallpox struck in 1670, and influenza in 1675. Smallpox affected the Native Americans in 1677, 1679, 1687, along with measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
, 1691, 1729, 1733, 1755, and finally in 1758.
The Abenaki population continued to decline, but in 1676, they took in thousands of refugees from many southern New England tribes displaced by settlement and King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
. Because of this, descendants of nearly every southern New England Algonquian tribe can be found among the Abenaki people. A century later, fewer than 1,000 Abenaki remained after the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
.
The population has recovered to nearly 12,000 total in the United States and Canada.
Fiction
Lydia Maria Child wrote of the Abenaki in her short story, "The Church in the Wilderness" (1828). Several Abenaki characters and much about their 18th-century culture are featured in the Kenneth Roberts' novel Arundel (1930). The film Northwest Passage (1940) is based on a novel by the same name by Roberts.The Abenaki are featured in Charles McCarry
Charles McCarry
Charles McCarry is an American writer primarily of spy fiction.-Life:McCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, has been a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA,...
's historical novel, Bride of the Wilderness (1988), set in the eighteenth century; and Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult
Jodi Lynn Picoult is an American author. She was awarded the New England Bookseller Award for fiction in 2003. Picoult currently has some 14 million copies of her books in print worldwide.-Early life and education:...
's Second Glance (2003), in the contemporary world. Books for younger readers both have historical settings: Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchac is a writer of books relating to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He has published works of poetry, novels, and short stories. He is from Saratoga Springs, New York, and is of...
's The Arrow Over the Door (1998) (grades 4-6) is set in 1777; and Beth Kanell's young adult novel, The Darkness Under the Water (2008), concerns a young Abenaki-French Canadian girl during the time of the Vermont Eugenics Project, 1931-1936.
The Abenaki phrase Awasiwi Odanak ("far from the village") is used by Jed Bartlet in The West Wing TV series, in describing his remote home in New Hampshire.
Non-fiction
Accounts of life with the Abenaki can be found in the captivity narratives written by women taken captive by the Abenaki from the early New England settlements: Hannah DustonHannah Duston
Hannah Duston was a colonial Massachusetts Puritan woman who escaped Native American captivity by leading her fellow captives in killing their captors at night. Duston is believed to be the first woman honored in the United States with a statue...
(1702); Elizabeth Hanson (1728); Susannah Willard Johnson
Susannah Willard Johnson
Susannah Willard Johnson was an Anglo-American woman who was captured with her family during an Abenaki Indian raid on Charlestown, New Hampshire in August 1754, immediately prior to the breakout of the French and Indian War...
(1754); and Jemima Howe (1792).
Maps
Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the Wabanaki ConfederacyWabanaki Confederacy
The Wabanaki Confederacy, as it is known in English, is a historical confederation of five North American Algonquian language speaking Indian tribes....
(from north to south):
Notable people
- Joseph BruchacJoseph BruchacJoseph Bruchac is a writer of books relating to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a particular focus on northeastern Native American and Anglo-American lives and folklore. He has published works of poetry, novels, and short stories. He is from Saratoga Springs, New York, and is of...
, author - Billy KiddBilly KiddWilliam Winston "Billy" Kidd is a former alpine ski racer, a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1962-70 and a pro racer from 1970-72...
, former alpine ski racerAlpine skiingAlpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four... - Alanis ObomsawinAlanis ObomsawinAlanis Obomsawin, OC is a Canadian filmmaker of Abenaki descent. Born in New Hampshire, and raised primarily in Quebec, she has produced and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations culture and history...
, filmmaker and documentarian - Donald E. Pelotte, Roman Catholic Bishop of GallupRoman Catholic Diocese of GallupThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States, encompassing counties in the states of Arizona and New Mexico and and parts of Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Bernalillo, and Valencia Counties west...
(New Mexico and Arizona) - Elijah TahamontDark Cloudis a role-playing video game for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2000 and 2001 in Japan and American/PAL regions respectively. The gameplay of Dark Cloud combines action role-playing with elements of city-building...
, silent film actor Dark Cloud - Alexis WawanoloathAlexis WawanoloathAlexis Wawanoloath is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Abitibi-Est, representing the Parti Québécois...
, Quebec Member of the National Assembly - John de Gonzague (1948-2006), BA Geography, Carleton University, pioneer in pollution prevention at Environment Canada's National Office of Pollution Prevention (P2) , a great-grandson of two Abenaki Grand Chiefs at Odanak, Joseph Laurent and Louis de Gonzague (1798-1870, chief from 1830-1870 and the only Abenaki buried beneath the Catholic Church's floor)
- Abbot Joseph de Gonzague ( - 1937), youngest son of widowed Grand Chief Louis de Gonzague and second wife, French-Canadian Théotiste Courchesne, became Odanak's first Native American Catholic missionary in 1895.
External material
Other grammar books and dictionaries include:- Dr. Gordon M. Day's two-volume Western Abenaki Dictionary (August 1994), Paperback: 616 pages, Publisher: Canadian Museum Of Civilization
- Chief Henry Lorne Masta's Abenaki Legends, Grammar, and Place Names (1932), Odanak, Quebec, reprinted in 2008 by Global Language Press
- Joseph AuberyJoseph AuberyJoseph Aubery Joseph Aubery Joseph Aubery (born at Gisors in Normandy, 10 May 1673; died at Saint-François, Quebec, Canada, 2 July 1755 was a French Jesuit missionary in Canada. Chateaubriand reproduces the life-story of Father Aubery in the character of the missionary in his Atala....
's Father Aubery's French-Abenaki Dictionary (1700), translated into English-Abenaki by Stephen Laurent, and published in hardcover (525 pp.) by Chisholm Bros. Publishing.