Everything about The Abenaki totally explained
The
Abenaki (
or Abnaki) are a
tribe of
Native American and
First Nations people belonging to the
Algonquian peoples of northeastern
North America, located in area the
Eastern Algonquian languages call the "
Wabanaki" (Dawn Land) Region. The Abenakis were one of the five members of the
Wabanaki Confederacy.
Name
The Abenaki people call themselves
Alnôbak, meaning "Real People" (c.f.
Lenape language:
Lenapek). 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, therefore, sometimes used to refer to all the
Algonquian language speaking peoples of the area — Western Abenaki, Eastern Abenaki,
Wolastoqiyik-
Passamaquoddy, and
Micmac — as a single group.
Subdivisions
Historically, the Abenakis are divided by the ethnologists into groups:
Western Abenaki and
Eastern Abenaki. Within these groups are the Abenaki Bands:
- Western Abenaki
- Amoskeay
- Cocheco
- Coos
- Missiquoi
- Nashua
- Ossipee
- Pemigewasset
- Penacook
- Pequaket
- Piscataqua
- Souhegan
- Winnibisauga
- Eastern Abenaki
- Amaseconti
- Androscoggin
- Kennebec
- Ossipee
- Penobscot (now considered a separate tribe)
- Pigwacket
- Rocameca
- Wewenoc
- Wôlinak
However, due to erroneous use of the word "Abenaki" to mean "Wabanaki," all the Abenakis together with the
Penobscots are often described as "Western 'Abenaki'" peoples, while the
Mi'kmaq,
Maliseet and
Passamaquoddy are described as "Eastern 'Abenaki'" peoples.
Location
The homeland of the Abenaki, known to them as
Ndakinna, which means "our land", extended across most of northern
New England, southern
Quebec, and the southern
Canadian Maritimes. The Eastern Abenaki's 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. There were also the
Pennacook along the
Merrimack River in southern New Hampshire. The maritime Abenaki lived around
St. Croix and the
Wolastoq (St. John River) Valleys near the boundary line between Maine and
New Brunswick.
The settlement of New England and frequent wars caused many Abenakis to resort to retreating to
Quebec. Two large tribal communities formed near
St-Francois-du-Lac and
Bécancour. These settlements continue to exist to this day. Three reservations also exist in northern Maine, and seven
Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) reserves are located in New Brunswick and Quebec. Other groups of Abenaki, without reservations, are scattered across northern New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Abenakis were traditionally allied with the
French; one of them, Chief
Assacumbuit, was declared a noble under the reign of
Louis XIV.
Facing annihilation from English attacks and epidemics, they started to emigrate to
Quebec around
1669, where two municipalities were given to them. The first was on the Saint Francis River and is nowadays known as the
Odanak Indian Reservation; the second was founded near
Bécancour and is called the
Wolinak Indian Reservation.
When their principal town,
Norridgewock, was taken, and their missionary, Father
Sebastian Râle, killed in
1724, many more emigrated to the settlement on the St. Francis River where other refugees from the
New England tribes had come to earlier. As of the early 1900s, they were represented by the
Wolastoqiyik ("People of the good river" – Maliseet) on the
St. John River, New Brunswick, and Quebec (on the bay of that name, in Maine (300); the Penobscots, at Old Town, Maine (400), and the Abnakis at St. Francis and Bécancour, Quebec (430).
Abenakis are not a
federally recognized tribe in the United States, like many other eastern tribes. This may change: in 2006,
Vermont officially recognized the Abenaki as a People, but not a Tribe. This is in recognition of the annihilation or assimilation of the Abenaki and subsequent isolation of each small remnant of the greater whole onto reservations during and after the
French and Indian War well before the US government began acknowledging the sovereignty of native tribes in the late twentieth century. Facing annihilation, the Abenakis began emigrating to Canada, then under French control, around 1669 where they were granted two seigneuries. The first seigneurie was established on the Saint-François river and is now known as the
Odanak Indian Reserve; the second was established on the river
Bécancour and is now known as the
Wôlinak Indian Reserve.
A tribal council was organized in
1976 at
Swanton, Vermont as the
Sokoki-St. Francis Band of the Abenaki Nation. State recognition of the council was granted that same year but was later withdrawn for unknown reasons. In
1982, they applied for nation recognition which is still pending. In 1980 two small councils united to form the Northeast Woodland-Coos Band, now known as the Koasek Traditional Band.
Culture
There are a dozen variations of the name Abenakis, such as Abenaquiois, Abakivis, Quabenakionek, Wabenakies and others.
They 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 Algonquin of southern New England. They largely relied on horticulture when it came to their diet, which is why villages often were located on or near river floodplains. Other less major, but still important parts of their diet include hunting, fishing, and wild plant gathering.
Mythology
Government
The Abenaki were ruled by elected chiefs called
Sachems, who usually served for life but could be impeached. They had little actual power, but
European
colonizers still treated them like
monarchs, resulting in many miscommunications and oversimplifications.
Population and epidemics
Before the Abenaki — except the Pennacook and Micmac — 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 1500s. The first epidemic was an unknown sickness occurring sometime between
1564 and
1570, and the second one was
typhus 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. Fortunately, the Western Abenaki were a more isolated group of people and suffered far less, losing only about half of their original population of 10,000.
The new diseases continued to cause more disaster, 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. Once again, smallpox struck in
1670, and influenza again in
1675. Smallpox affected the Native Americans again 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, descendents of nearly every southern New England Algonquin can be found among the Abenaki people. Another century later, there were fewer than 1,000 Abenaki remaining after the
American Revolution.
The population recovered to almost 12,000 in both the United States and Canada.
Fiction
The Abenaki are featured in
Jodi Picoult's Second Glance and the film
Northwest Passage based on
Kenneth Roberts's book
Arundel.
They also feature prominently in
Charles McCarry's novel
Bride of the Wilderness.
They also plays a protagonist role in
Joseph Bruchac's novel
The Arrow Over the Door.
Notable people
Alanis Obomsawin, filmmaker and documentarian
Donald E. Pelotte, Roman Catholic Bishop of Gallup
Alexis Wawanoloath, Quebec MNA
Joseph Bruchac, an author
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Abenaki'.
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