Federal Decision

Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Federal Decision Leaves Vermont's Abenakis in Limbo June 26, 2007 By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau MONTPELIER — The final federal decision to deny acknowledgement of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki leaves the tribe's members little, if any, farther ahead than they were decades ago when they began the process. State recognition last year of the existence in Vermont of Abenaki and other American Indians — the first time since a one-year recognition of the tribe by then Gov. Thomas Salmon in 1976 — gave supporters of the band a boost. State officials and American Indians in Vermont are still working out what that bill — signed into law by Gov. James Douglas — means practically. But last week's decision by the federal government, although expected, dealt a serious setback to the Abenakis' hopes for acknowledgement as a sovereign nation. The federal ruling was not a surprise, said Jeff Benay, who has testified in the Legislature in favor of Abenaki recognition and is a former chair of the state commission on Native American affairs The federal government had issued a preliminary rejection of the tribe's recognition petition in November 2005. But Friday's final determination by the U.S. Department of the Interior makes it much less likely the tribe will gain federal acknowledgement. Although an appeal is possible, or the tribe could seek recognition through another avenue, the federal final decision closes one door. The tribe failed in four of the seven criteria to gain recognition, including not demonstrating that it existed continuously since 1900, that the petitioning group had been a distinct community since historical times, maintained political influence over its members and that its members descended from a historical tribe. "Unfortunately recognition petitions are not always judged on merit," Benay said. "Am I surprised? No. Do the Abenaki have a good petition? Absolutely. It was strong in 1982 when it was first submitted. It only got stronger." Indeed the chance of a successful recognition petition seems to be related to how much money can be spent in support of it, Benay said. For instance the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's petition gathered dust for a decade before financial backers put up $8 million which helped bring the petition to the top of the heap, according to the Cape Cod Times. The tribe's petition was approved earlier this year. "The Abenaki were not approached by well-heeled groups so they did not have the $8 million the Mashpee had," Benay said. "We learned that money talks." In a statement, Interior Department officials said the decision to deny recognition to the Abenaki was based on evidence that the tribe ceased to exist and that some of the members of the modern band are not its descendants. "The available evidence does not support these claims. Instead, it indicates that the petitioner is a collection of individuals of claimed but mostly undemonstrated Indian ancestry with little or no social or historical connection with each other before the petitioner formally organized in the 1970s," according to the agency's statement. Phone calls to officials in the department were not returned Monday. "The problem with recognition in general is that the standard is very, very high and it is biased towards tribes west of the Mississippi who have the shortest contact with Europeans," said Brian Gilley, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Vermont. That is because tribes with the longest contact with European settlers tend to have the greatest damage to their social and political structures, said Gilley. "The people who grant recognition are historians, anthropologists, they are not politicians," Gilley said. "Their decisions are supposed to only be influenced by the evidence of a proposed tribe meeting the requirements as set out by the law." State governments — including Vermont's Attorney General's office — often oppose recognition in part because of fears that such acknowledgement of tribes will lead to casino gambling or land claims by tribal members. Officials of the Attorney General's office did not return calls for comment on the decision. But that is not a realistic worry in Vermont, given the remoteness of the state and the amount of money it would take to establish gambling here, Gilley said. Mostly federal recognition would have meant more access to health care, education and scholarship programs, they said. And federal law now requires state legislative and gubernatorial approval before gambling can open even by federally recognized tribes, Benay said. The federal decision will have little bearing on his work as chairman of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, said Mark Mitchell, an Abenaki himself. "I find it personally has no bearing on what this commission does or does not do at all. I work with the state government, not the federal government," Mitchell said. His goals are to establish the rules around state recognition of tribes in Vermont for purposes of selling arts and crafts and drafting a guide for American Indians in the state who want to seek assistance with schooling and other programs, Mitchell said. There have been some beneficial developments, compared with even recent history, however, he added. "Today the doors are open, the native voice is at the table with state government. I find that kind of refreshing compared with the early 1990s," he said. The bill made into law last year which acknowledged the presence of American Indians in Vermont did not go as far as some supporters had hoped. "The original bill was a shadow of itself. Now, with federal recognition being denied, they are not much farther ahead than they were in the 1970s," said State Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans. "I don't think there is any dispute that they inhabited this part of the world, now known as Vermont, thousands of years ago. They have received nothing over the past 30 years."http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS02/706260328/1003/NEWS02
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 June 2007 )

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Feds deny recognition of Vermont's Abenaki Indians

Published: Saturday, June 23, 2007

By John Curran

The Associated Press

MONTPELIER -- The federal government has denied federal recognition to the Abenaki Indians of Vermont, saying the group doesn't meet federal criteria, state Attorney General William Sorrell said Friday.

Echoing a "proposed finding" issued 1 1/2 years ago, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs issued a final determination Friday saying the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont doesn't meet the criteria required to prove it is an Indian tribe.

"It's disappointing, but it wasn't unexpected," said Abenaki tribal historian Fred Wiseman, a professor at Johnson State College.

Bureau of Indian Affairs officials couldn't be reached for comment on the decision late Friday. A telephone message left after hours at the agency's Washington, D.C., office was not immediately returned.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which manages 55.7 million acres of land held in trust for American Indians, Indian tribes and Alaska Natives, said when it issued the preliminary finding in November 2005 that the Abenakis failed to show that they had descended from a historical Abenaki tribe, that the tribe had existed since 1900 and that it has been part of a continuous community.

Members of the group have claimed it has about 1,770 people, mostly in the Missisquoi River Valley region of northwestern Vermont.

The federal government recognizes 561 tribes. The status is highly sought-after because it exempts tribes from state and local laws and entitles them to ask for reservation and trust lands when it is granted.

The state has been reluctant to recognize the Abenakis, fearing it could bolster the tribe's bid to win federal recognition, which opponents say could lead to land claims and gambling casinos.

Last year, Gov. Jim Douglas signed into law a bill recognizing their existence in Vermont, but it was a largely symbolic gesture.

MAY | JUNE 2007

By Margery Sharp

Abenaki: People Of The Dawnland

Old battles and new life

Four Governors have had input into the Abenaki Nation’s quest for sovereignty in Vermont.

In 1976 Gov. Thomas Salmon signed a document granting recognition to the Abenaki Nation. It was revoked in 1977 by Gov. Richard Snelling although later Gov. Howard Dean appointed a Native American “Advisory” Committee. One year ago (May 2006) the present Governor, James Douglas, signed Legislative Bill S117 declaring the Abenaki Nation a Sovereign State.

To achieve sovereignty the Abenaki, meaning “People of the Dawnland,” traced back seven generations to the 18th century to prove with maps, artifacts, heirlooms, clothing, food utensils, fishing implements, canoes, and some birth records their continuous presence in Vermont. After a great flood (1790) it was rumored most Native Americans in Franklin County either died or moved to Canada. This was not entirely true. Many Abenaki remained and adapted the “white man’s” ways while they kept secret their culture and their Algonquin language.

The late Abenaki Chief Homer St. Francis faked his age at 16 to join the Marines. Later he joined the Navy and Army National Guard. He also was a decorated member of President Eisenhower’s Honor Guard. Photo courtesy of April St. Francis Merrill.

The Eugenics Movement of the 1920’s-30’s also forced many indigenous people to hide their heritage fearing sterilization by proponents of the Movement, led in Vermont by UVM Zoology Professor Henry Perkins. Among those targeted were retarded, mentally ill, Native Americans and others deemed “unfit” to live by Perkins’ disciples. Many Abenaki quietly lived on in Franklin County essentially hiding from the likes of Perkins.

In the late 1950’s the Abenaki reasserted their Vermont existence. Championing this renewed interest was Homer St. Francis, Grand Chief of the Abenaki Nation. For generations his family held leadership positions in the Nation.

“I would sit at the kitchen table and hear (my father) talk to other tribal leaders about claiming the Nation’s sovereign rights,” April St. Francis Merrill, Homer St. Francis’ daughter, recalls.

At sixteen St. Francis faked his age to join the U.S. Marines. Chosen a member of President Eisenhower’s White House Honor Guard, “He was decorated for stopping a person attempting to enter the White House grounds by climbing over a fence,” Merrill says. Later he joined the U.S. Navy and still later the Army National Guard. He served in Korea.

Determined to gain Abenaki sovereignty he read law books and knew what his rights were. But Homer St. Francis, patriot, often wasn’t treated kindly by the media.

April St. Francis Merrill always was interested in her father’s work. In 1991 she was appointed “Acting Chief” when her father contracted cancer. In 1996, she took over all duties as Chief of the Missisquoi —St. Francis Band-Sokoki Tribe. (The Missisquoi are a tribe within the Abenaki Nation and the name, Missisquoi, means “Crooked River.”) Homer St. Francis died in 2001 without seeing his Nation achieve sovereignty.

Today Chief Merrill’s mission is to preserve the ethnicity of the Missisquoi and help members take advantage of opportunities including education, jobs, housing and healthcare. “Education is the main key,” she says. “When there was no kindergarten for our five year-olds, we started our own. When kindergarten was mandated for Vermont schools our children went to public school.” She adds, “In the 1980s the Abenaki high school student dropout rate was 80 percent. Today it is three percent. We continuously remind our people they are not dumb, they can achieve and have careers.”

“Let me make this point, we don’t want to build a casino!
But we do want to gain economic stability.”

Another key is better health care. “We have many health problems including alcoholism and diabetes. A new trend is diabetes in our youth which (of course) is happening throughout America.”

“Let me make this point,” she says. “We don’t want to build a casino!” But we do want to gain economic stability.” Recently the tribe members developed a juice drink recipe. “When we wrote a development grant for the drink, it was coupled with a St. Albans grant. Ours was scrapped because it would ‘compete’ with St. Albans.”

In 2000 Merrill led the fight to stop excavation of an ancient Abenaki burial ground on the Bushey property on Monument Road along the Missisquoi River in Swanton-Highgate. For several weeks Merrill and tribe members blockaded construction vehicles while Abenaki, UVM archaeologists and volunteers sifted through disturbed dirt for human remains. Yes, there were curiosity seekers, security and, of course, the media.

“This was not just a bunch of bones,” she says. “Even Deborah Blom, UVM Archaeologist, could identify some fragments as that of a child, a woman etc. It’s part of our heritage only the older women bury the dead. No woman who is of child-bearing age may take part,” Merrill explains.

The remains were wrapped in a customary way. When the landowner refused to allow the women onto the land to ‘wrap’ the remains in preparation for reburial, April asked, “How would you like me to dig up your grandmother?” He relented. The reburial ceremony was held November 2000.

Missisquoi-Abenaki headquarters is located at 100 Grand Avenue (Route 7) south of Swanton Village. Inside, the room is lined with office cubicles opposite a bank of computers—a gift from IBM. All tribe members, especially children, use the machines. (The day of this interview, a five year-old worked a computer.) The Department of Labor (Unemployment and Training) meets there and occasional meetings and lectures also are held there.

The headquarters shares space with the tribal council and Abenaki Museum next door (set up by Johnson College Professor Fred Wiseman) and ASHAI (Abenaki Self Help Association, Inc.), Vermont’s first non-profit organization which formed in 1977 to help get federal/state funds to meet community needs.

In 1981 ASHAI built a Section Eight Low Income Housing project. ASHAI also runs Operation Santa, a food shelf, and gives vocational support to tribe members, funds social/educational programs, addresses prejudice toward Abenakis and promotes pride in the Abenaki heritage.

When Gov. Douglas signed S117 in 2006, a directive to form a Governor’s Commission on Native American Affairs was included. Douglas appointed seven commissioners—all Native Americans—to each serve two years. Commissioners meet each month in the National Life Building in Montpelier. Mark Mitchell is chairman.

Besides recognition of the Abenaki as a Sovereign Nation, there is language in S117, Section 851 titled “Findings” (2) which reads, ” There is ample archaeological evidence that demonstrates that the Missisquoi Abenaki were indigenous to and farmed the river floodplains of Vermont at least as far back as the 1100s A.D.”

The commission’s goals include: making use of communication tools including websites, the education of Native American children and housing and health care for both the elderly and all tribe members. The commissioners also want to ensure protection of sacred sites and unmarked Native American burials.

They also want to clarify the regulations for Native American artisans to sell native crafts. Some Vermont officials believe the commission should decide who is qualified to sell native crafts on an individual basis. The commissioners disagree and say anyone could declare himself a Native American in order to sell crafts. They prefer to set up criteria by which they would recognize whole tribes and known artisans in the tribe would qualify to sell the crafts.

The commissioners also want to guarantee the study of the Abenaki experience in Vermont schools and compile a permanent record of Vermont’s Quadricentennial Celebration in 2009. Professor Wiseman is a member of the Vermont Quadricentennial Committee.

Each Memorial Day a Heritage Festival is held in Swanton. There is dancing, music and ceremonies. Many Native American tribal chiefs attend the festivities. The general public is invited.

Margery Sharp is a reporter/freelance writer living in Hinesburg, Vermont.

9 Responses to “Abenaki: People Of The Dawnland”

Rhonda Besaw Says:
May 4th, 2007 at 3:14 pm

There is no “sovereign” Abenaki Nation and “sovereignty” has not been granted to Abenaki people by anyone. Being “recognized” does not equal or confer seperate nation status. A sovereign nation, for one thing, would have a land base-the Abenaki do not. A sovereign nation has supreme and independent power or authority in government-the Abenaki do not. Not yet.
michelle Says:
June 6th, 2007 at 2:28 pm

I enjoyed this article very much. I believe that [the reason] we don’t have a land base is due to our Abenaki heritage as well as our ancestors being pushed out of our land and homes. We are not asking for a million dollars. We are simply asking to be recognized.
Michael "Kickingbear" Johnson Says:
June 19th, 2007 at 1:34 pm

Hello,

I too enjoyed, and appreciated this article “Abenaki, People Of The Dawnland”. I am a member/citizen of a federally recognized tribe. (Western Mashantucket Pequot) but I remember all to well the struggles of our own people while we were state recognized. I see so many similarities, and struggles that we are STILL dealing with even today.

A reader (Rhonda) responded to this article by stating:

“There is no “sovereign” Abenaki Nation and “sovereignty” has not been granted to Abenaki people by anyone. Being “recognized” does not equal or confer separate nation status. A sovereign nation, for one thing, would have a land base-the Abenaki do not. A sovereign nation has supreme and independent power or authority in government-the Abenaki do not. Not yet.”

My belief in reading the S117 bill is that it identifies or “recognizes” the fact that the Abenaki DO exist in Vermont. But it does much more than that. It also means that Vermont acknowledges and sees the Abenaki tribal nation not merely a group of people of the past, but that these are people who exist today, and who you can talk to, and hang with! So may times, Indian people are referenced as “people who ONCE existed” or always in the past tense. S117 (in my opinion) is a strong positive starting point.

Rhonda then went on to say that sovereignty has not been “granted by anyone”. I deeply respect her position, however, if you are Abenaki, or Pequot, or any other tribal nation of people, you are already sovereign. You already have the right to self-determination. S117 identifies the Abenaki nation and it’s working government(s). The Governor of Vermont also directed and appointed a “Commission on Native American Affairs” to work with the State Government of Vermont.

This should be viewed as a very good thing. It is made up entirely of native people. It should be viewed by the Abenaki tribal nation as a link into the state government, and to the Governor’s office. It can also be viewed as the state saying to the Abenaki nation “hey, look, we recognize that we don’t understand your issues…help us to do so…”

Rhonda also stated “Being “recognized” does not equal or confer separate nation status. A sovereign nation, for one thing, would have a land base-the Abenaki do not. A sovereign nation has supreme and independent power or authority in government-the Abenaki do not. Not yet.” I do not share this opinion. Self-Determination is the core principle of a sovereign nation. And a nation is made up of people. Vermont is not determining who is Abenaki and who is not. The Abenaki Tribal nation determines that.

What S117 simply does, is to confirm that position officially. This of course is the position of the state of Vermont.

As for the claim that the Abenaki do not have a land base, I disagree. The land (today) is shared. The meadows historically speaking, is currently being shared. It doesn’t mean that the Abenaki do not have a land-base.

I think what Rhonda is confusing is legislative Bill S117 to the process of the federal government to place land into trust for an Indian tribe. That process isn’t considered until a tribal nation has achieved federal recognition status. And it isn’t ALWAYS granted either.

Generally lands that are in trust by the federal government are under the control of the tribe that has requested it. However,it ALSO means that the federal government can remove that trust status at any time if it deems necessary to do so for the benefit of the United States.

This is an unfortunate detail that is always missed by the media and those that think they understand the Indian recognition process as well as the land into trust initiatives by our federal government. It is similar to the current issue over Eminent domain.

Defined As:
(“The inherent power of the state to seize a citizen’s private property, expropriate private property, or rights in private property, without the owner’s consent. The property is taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties who will devote it to public use.” As defined in wikipedia)

Granted, federal law differs greatly in terms of lands in trust for Indian nations, as much of it is based on treaty laws, and other factors, but the idea is similar.

My hopes and prayers are with the Abenaki tribal nation.
Koasek Tribal Council Says:
June 20th, 2007 at 9:54 am

All Native Nations are Sovereign. It is a right to self determination. It is a human right. Not a BIA, Federal or State Law nor is it given to us by any of the above. It is a Human Right. Now the other problem of understanding also comes into play is; what is the Abenaki Nation? The easiest way to give a full picture is this, The State of VT and NH are made up of counties with in their borders. The Abenaki Territory ( also referred to as Nation) which consisted of Southern PQ, VT, NH, Western ME, Eastern NY and northwest MA have many bands with in it’s borders which is on the same principal of counties..same but different. Each band had ( have) their own governing body…which deems us sovereign.
We hope this helps some with understanding this issue.
Nancy Millette Says:
June 20th, 2007 at 10:18 am

This is an excellent article! Chief Homer St Francis was a true leader and great man. With out the battle Chief Homer St Francis lead as Grand Chief of the Abenaki Nation I personally do not believe we would have ever seen Bill S117 come to be. It is wonderful to see his life and work being kept alive.
There are still struggles today for the Abenaki however, because of his courage and leadership the Abenaki are in hiding no more. Because of the path he paved we have a chance today to make tomorrow even better for the Abenaki children and the next generations.
Jeanne (Morningstar) Kent Says:
June 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am

This was an interesting article. Very concise and thought provoking. The Abenaki People are still struggling for the recognition and right to preserve our heritage and to provide services for the needs of our People for generations to come. I always feel very sad that casinos are associated with declaring who we are. If we were Italian, French, or any other nationality, that is what we would be, but as Native People, we must be recognized by a government which is ever concerned with land use, politics and economics which take precidence over the future of a People. It is really too bad that the two issues cannot be separated. Perhaps, then, there would be less reluctance to recognize that we exist.
Paul Bunnell "Gwilawato" Says:
June 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pm

Except for one article, I see a great movement forward with all the discussions and support here. The article is very encouraging. We live in an exciting time and our leadership will get us to our destination.
Thank You

NORTHEASTERN WOODLAND HISTORY:
Posted: March 22, 2007

Abenaki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abenaki

Flag of Western Abenaki
Total population
around 4,500
Regions with significant populations
United States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont) Canada (Quebec)
Languages
English, Abenaki
Religions

Related ethnic groups
Algonquian peoples

The Abenaki (also "Wabanuok" or Wabanaki) are a tribe of Native Americans/First Nations belonging to the Algonquian peoples of northeastern North America. The two major tribes within the Abenaki people are Western Abenaki and Eastern Abenaki.

The term "Wabanuok" or Wabanakiyik^{[citation needed]} means "People of the Dawn Land" in the Abenaki language, from waban ("dawn" or "east") and ki ("land")^[1] (compare Proto-Algonquian *wāpan and *axkyi)—the aboriginal name of the area broadly corresponding to New England. 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.

History

Abenaki couple

The Abenakis were traditionally allied with the French; one of them, 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 Bécancour and is called the Wolinak Indian Reservation. Indian Reservation; the second was founded near

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).^{[citation needed]}

Abenakis are not a federally recognized tribe in the United States, like many other eastern tribes. This may change: Vermont officially recognized the Abenaki in 2006. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[2]^{[citation needed]}

Culture

An Abenaki Indian man in traditional clothing.

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.^[3]

All Abenaki tribes lived a lifestyle similar to the Algonquin of southern New England. They largely relied on agriculture 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.^[2]

They lived in scattered bands of extended families for most of the year. Each man had different hunting territories inherited through his father. The Abenaki were patrilineal, unlike the Iroquois. Bands would come 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 the Iroquois', the average number of people only being 100.^[2]

Most Abenaki settlements used dome-shaped, bark covered wigwams for housing, though a few preferred oval-shaped long houses. During the winter, the Abenaki lived in small groups farther inland. The homes there were bark-covered wigwams shaped in a way similar to the teepees of the Great Plains Indians.^[2]

Language

Main article: Abenaki language

There are two primary dialects of Abenaki: Western Abenaki, the language of the Abenaki community at Odanak, and Eastern Abenaki, which is represented by the modern language of the Penobscot tribe, as well as in the Abenaki linguistic materials of the colonial French missionaries.^{[citation needed]}

The Abenaki language is closely related to those of their neighboring tribes such as the Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), and Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy). There were numerous cultural differences between the Algonquian tribes and those of the Five Nations with linguistic and spiritual differences being the most noticeable.^{[citation needed]}

There are very few native speakers of the original Abenaki language still alive. There are active Abenaki communities in Quebec, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire.^{[citation needed]}

Their language has been preserved in the monumental dictionary of Sebastian Râle, in Joseph Laurent's 1884 grammar, and in the 1994 dictionary by Gordon Day.^{[citation needed]}

Population and epidemics

This section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. It may be using the words or ideas of other publications in its text, without citing the source(s) of the information.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2006. (help)

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.

Location

This section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. It may be using the words or ideas of other publications in its text, without citing the source(s) of the information.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2006. (help)

Abenaki wigwam with birch bark covering

The homeland of the Abenaki, known to them as Ndakinna, which means "our land", extended across most of northern New England and into the southern Canadian Maritimes. The Eastern Abenaki's population was concentrated in portions of Maine east of New Hampshire's White Mountains, while the other major tribe, the Western Abenaki, lived in areas west of the mountains across Vermont and New Hampshire to the eastern shores of Lake Champlain. The southern limits of the Abenaki's homeland were near the present northern border of Massachusetts, excluding the Pennacook country 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. TwoSt-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.^[2] large tribal communities formed near

The Penawapskewi (Penobscot) have a reservation with 2,000 people on Indian Island at Old Town, Maine. The Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) currently^{[citation needed]} number about 2,500 across three different Maine reservations, Pleasant Point, Peter Dana Point, and Indian Township. The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians have close to 600 tribesmembers, whereas there are seven Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) bands in Canada, 470 in Quebec and 2,000 in New Brunswick. Four hundred Wôlinak Abenakis live on a reserve near Bécancour, Quebec (across the river from Trois-Rivières), and almost 1,500 live at Odanak, only 30 miles to the southwest of Trois-Rivières. The remaining Abenaki people are scattered within Quebec, New Brunswick, and northern New England, living in multi-race towns and cities. There are currently^{[citation needed]} about 2,500 Vermont Abenaki in both Vermont and New Hampshire, mainly around Lake Champlain.^[2]

References

^ Snow, Dean R. 1978. "Eastern Abenaki". In Northeast, ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 137. Cited in Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pg. 401. Campbell uses the spelling wabánahki.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h http://www.tolatsga.org/aben.html
^ (1900) in Reuben Gold Thwaites: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610—1791. The Burrows Company. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.

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