Abenakis

A loose alliance of tribes in what are now Maine and New Brunswick, which included, among others, the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, Penobscots, Norridgewocks, and possibly the Sokokis.

The Abenakis were allies of the French in the struggle with the English colonists of New England and the League of the Iroquois.

(DCB Dictionary of Canadian Biography"," G. Brown"," ed.)

Abenaki

There are two well-known Abenaki communities in Quebec, Odanak and Wolinak. There is also a community known as Missisquoi in Vermont, U.S.A., on the Quebec border. The Abenaki people are members of the Great Wôbanaki Confederacy.

Wôbôbial Belts

According to ancient stories of the Wôlinak Abenaki, the beads used to make the belts were given to them by Kchi Niwaskw (The Master of Life). The medicine people gathered around a fire one night to pray to the Creator for help in making the Wôbôbial Belts. They smoked their pipes and suddenly the beads started coming out of their mouths.

Wôbôbial Belts are not used for recording events; they are far more complex. They were teaching tools meant to be used by, and for, the people, to live in harmony with all living beings on Earth and throughout the Universe. The belts and the knowledge needed to use them came from Kchi Niwaskw.

Like us, Wôbôbial Belts are living things and should be cared for and respected in a sacred way. Today we see the revival of our old ways and with it some of the original instructions for using the belts and taking care of them.

Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada

New Hampshire Native Americans

Four principal groups of Algonquian-speaking native peoples inhabited New Hampshire just before European settlement. By far the largest was the Pennacook, the name given both to the tribe centered in the Merrimack River Valley near the present site of Concord and to a larger association consisting of the central tribe and several smaller bands stretching north and south in the Merrimack Valley. The Pennacook lived in villages surrounded by cultivated fields, living by agriculture and hunting during much of the year but moving to the seacoast for fishing and gathering shellfish during the summer.

Other groups, also of the Algonquian culture, included the Sokokis north of the White Mountains, whose hunting grounds extended into what is now western Maine; a westward extension of the Maine-based Abenaki, known as the Pigwackets, in the upper Saco Valley on the southeastern edge of the White Mountains; and the Pocumtucks of western Massachusetts, whose hunting grounds extended into the lower Connecticut Valley of New Hampshire.

Because the native peoples had no written language and early contact with Europeans was limited, information about the native inhabitants is scarce and sometimes confusing. The total native population of the New Hampshire area was estimated at more than 12,000, but their numbers were sharply reduced in the early 1600s by warfare with the Mohawk people to the west and by epidemics that swept New England.

The native people lived cooperatively with the early European settlers, whose numbers were too small to pose a threat. The native groups taught the whites many skills that were essential to their survival: how to cultivate corn, tap maple trees for syrup, make canoes and many kinds of garments, and to locate the best trails. The Native Americans, in turn, sought to trade with the settlers for metal tools and utensils, blankets, and weapons, both for hunting and for resisting Mohawk attacks.

from: "New Hampshire," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Abenakis

Language

The Abenaki language is part of the Algonquian linguistic group. As is the case with many Native languages in North America, the Abenaki language is threatened with extinction. Today, less than 3% of the total Abenaki population speak their language. The name Abenaki comes from the word "wabanaki", which can be interpreted as meaning "land of the rising sun", "first light country", or "dawn's land." Total Population There are an estimated 1,890 people that make up the Abenaki Nation in Quebec. One third of this population lives within the territory of the two communities that are part of this Nation.

Territories

At the beginning of the colonial period, the Abenakis were established in the area that was to become New England, and, particularly, in what is now the American state of Maine. As the European population increased, and the colonial conflicts escalated, the Abernakis found themselves being forced off of their ancestral lands. The majority of them moved to the Quebec City area in the 1670's, and were based in a Jesuit mission in Sillery, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

Communities

Two communities, Odanak and Wôlinak, have evolved along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

First People, Native Trail