Abenaki

Abenaki

Flag of St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenaki
Regions with significant populations
United States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont) Canada (New Brunswick, Quebec)
Languages
English, French, Abenaki
Religion
largely Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Algonquian peoples

The Abenaki (or Abnaki) 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.

Name

The Abenaki people call themselves Alnôbak, meaning "Real People" (c.f., Lenape language: Lenapek). 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.

Subdivisions

Historically, ethnologists have classified the Abenaki as groups: Western Abenaki and Eastern Abenaki. Within these groups are the Abenaki bands:

• Western Abenaki
  • Amoskeay
  • Cocheco
  • Cowasuck
  • Koasek (Coos)
  • Masipskwoik (Missiquoi), also known as Sokoki
  • Nashua
  • Ossipee
  • Pemigewasset
  • Pennacook
  • Pequawket
  • 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 are described as "Eastern 'Wabenaki'" peoples.

Location

Abenaki wigwam with birch bark covering

The homeland of the Abenaki, which they call Ndakinna (our land), extended across most of northern New England, 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

Main article: Abenaki language

The Abenaki language is closely related to the Panawahpskek (Penobscot) 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.

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 French; during the reign of Louis XIV, Chief Assacumbuit was designated a member of the French nobility for his service.

Abenaki couple, 18th-century

Facing annihilation from English attacks and epidemics 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.

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 legislature. 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 powwows. 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 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.

Culture

An Abenaki in traditional clothing

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, 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 wigwams 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."

Hair style and other marriage traditions

Modernized traditional spiritual hairstyle for a married Abenaki man

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:

1. Peace: Is this preserved?
2. Righteousness: Is it moral?
3. 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.

Storytelling

Storytelling 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.

Mythology

See also: Abenaki mythology

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 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. 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.

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'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.

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 Duston (1702); Elizabeth Hanson (1728); Susannah Willard Johnson (1754); and Jemima Howe (1792).

Maps

Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy (from north to south):

• 
  Mi'kmaq
• 
  Maliseet,
  Passamaquoddy
• 
  Eastern Abenaki (Penobscot, Kennebec, Arosaguntacook, Pigwacket/Pequawket)
• 
  Western Abenaki (Arsigantegok, Missisquoi, Cowasuck, Sokoki, Pennacook)

Notable people

• Joseph Bruchac, author
• Billy Kidd, former alpine ski racer
• Alanis Obomsawin, filmmaker and documentarian
• Donald E. Pelotte, Roman Catholic Bishop of Gallup (New Mexico and Arizona)
• Elijah Tahamont, silent film actor Dark Cloud
• Alexis Wawanoloath, 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.

Bibliography

• Aubery, Joseph Fr. and Stephen Laurent, 1995. Father Aubery's French Abenaki Dictionary: English translation. S. Laurent (Translator). Chisholm Bros. Publishing
• Baker, C. Alice, 1897. True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada during the Old French and Indian Wars. Press of E.A. Hall & Company, Greenfield, Massachusetts
• Charland, Thomas-M. (O.P.), 1964. Les Abenakis D'Odanak: Histoire des Abénakis D'Odanak (1675–1937). Les Éditions du Lévrier, Montreal, QC
• Coleman, Emma Lewis. New England Captives Carried to Canada: Between 1677 and 1760 During the French and Indian Wars, Heritage Books, 1989 (reprint 1925).
• Day, Gordon, 1981. The Identity of the Saint Francis Indians, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, National Museum Of Man Mercury Series ISSN 0316-1854, Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 71 ISSN 0316-1862.
• Laurent, Joseph, 1884. New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues. Quebec: Joseph Laurent (Sozap Lolô Kizitôgw), Abenakis, Chief of the Indian village of St. Francis, P.Q. Reprinted (paperback) Sept. 2006: Vancouver: Global Language Press, ISBN 0-9738924-7-1; Dec. 2009 (hardcover): Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series; and April 2010 (paperback): Nabu Press.
• Masta, Henry Lorne, 1932. Abenaki Legends, Grammar and Place Names. Victoriaville, PQ: La Voix Des Bois-Franes. Reprinted 2008: Toronto: Global Language Press, ISBN 978-1-897367-18-6
• Maurault, Joseph-Anselme (Abbot), 1866. Histoire des Abénakis, depuis 1605 jusqu'à nos jours. Published at L'Atelier typographique de la "Gazette de Sorel", QC
• Moondancer and Strong Woman, 2007. A Cultural History of the Native Peoples of Southern New England: Voices from Past and Present. Boulder, CO: Bauu Press, ISBN 0-9721349-3-X

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 Aubery'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.

External links

• St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenaki
• Koasek (Cowasuck) Traditional Abenaki Nation
• ELNU Tribe of the Abenaki
• Abenakis of Odanak
• The Abenaki Language
• Abenaki language resources
• Abenaki language recordings
• Online dictionary and radio programs
• The Identity of The St. Francis Indians