Bl'LL. 30] 



ABNAKI 



Stofkbridges, and Munnee about Green 

 bay, Wis. By the Puritans they were 

 generally called Tarrateens, a term appar- 

 ently obtained from the southern New- 

 England tribes; and though that is the 

 general conclusion of modern authorities, 

 there is some doul)t as to the aboriginal 

 origin of this term. In later times, after 

 the main body of the Abnaki had re- 

 moved to Canada, the name was applied 

 more especially to the Penobscot tribe. 

 The Iroquois called them Owenunga, 

 which seems to be merely a moditication 

 of Abnaki, or Abnaqui, the name applied 

 by the French and used by most modern 

 writers. The form Openango has been 

 used more especially to designate the 

 eastern tribes. Maurault (Hist, des 

 Aben.,2, 1866) says: "Some English au- 

 thors have called these savages Waba- 

 noaks, 'those of the east'; this is the 

 reason they are called 'Al)enakis' by some 

 among us. This name was given them 

 because they were toward the east with 

 reference to the Narragansetts. ' ' 



Ethnic relations. — In his tentative ar- 

 rangement Brinton (Len. Leg., 11, 1885) 

 brings into one group the Nascapee, ^lic- 

 mac, Malecite, Etchimin, and Aljnaki, 

 but this is more of a geographic than a 

 linguistic grouping. Vetromile (Abnakis, 

 20, 1866), following other autiiors, says 

 that we should ' ' embrace und er tl i is term 

 all the tribes of the Algic [Algomiuian] 

 family, who occupy or have occupied the 

 E. or N. E. shore of North America; thus, 

 all the Indians of the seashores, from 

 Virginia to Nova Scotia, were Abnaki." 

 Maurault gives the following as the prin- 

 cipal tribes of the A])naki confederacy: 

 Kanibesinnoaks (Norridgewock in part; 

 see Keimebee and Xorridgeirock); Pat- 

 suikets (Sokoki in part) ; Sokouakiaks 

 ( Sokoki ) ; Nurhantsuaks( Norridgewock ) ; 

 Pentagoets (Penobscot); Etemankiaks 

 (Etchimin) ; Ouarastegouiaks ( Malecite), 

 the name Abnaki being applied in the 

 restricted sense to the Indians of Kenne- 

 bec r. AUthesetribes spoke substantially 

 the same language, the chief dialectal 

 differences being between the Etchimin 

 and the other tribes of the group. The 

 Etchimin, who formed a subgroup of the 

 Abnaki confederacy, included the Passa- 

 maquoddy and Malecite. Linguistically 

 the Abnaki do not appear to be more 

 closely related to the Micmac than to the 

 Delaware group, and Dr William Jones 

 finds the Abnaki closely related to the 

 central Algonquian languages. In cus- 

 toms and beliefs they are more nearly 

 related to the Micmac, and their ethnic 

 relations appear to be with the tribes n. 

 of the St Lawrence. 



History. — The history of the Abnaki 

 may be said to begin with Verrazano's 

 visit in 1524. The mvthical accounts of 



Norumbega (q. v.) of the early writers 

 and navigators finally dwindled to a 

 village of a few bark-covered huts under 

 the name Agguncia, situated near the 

 mouth of Penobscot r., in the country of 

 the Abnaki. In 1604 Champlain ascended 

 the Penobscot to the vicinity of the pres- 

 ent Bangor, and met the ' ' lord ' ' of No- 

 rumbega, doubtless an Abnaki chief. 

 From that time the Abnaki formed an 

 important factor in the history of the 

 region now embraced in the state of Miane. 

 From the time of their discovery until 

 their partial withdrawal to Canada they 

 occupied the general region from the St 

 Johns til the Saco; but the earliest English 

 accounts indicate that about 1605-20 the 

 s. w. part of the coast of Maine was occu- 

 pied by other Indians, whose chief seat 

 was near Pemaquid, and who were at Mar 

 with the Abnaki, or Tarrateen, as the 

 English termed them, who were more to 

 the x; but these other tribes were iinally 

 (■on(iuen'(l by the Al)naki and proliably 



GROUP OF ABNAKI ( PASSAMAQUODDy) 



absorbed by them. Who these Indians 

 were is unknown. The Abnaki formed 

 an early attachment for the French, 

 chiefly through the influence of their 

 missionaries, and carried on an almost 

 constant war with the P^nglish until the 

 fall of the French power in America. 

 The accounts of these struggles during 

 the settlement of Maine are familiar 

 episodes in American history. As the 

 whites encroacheil on them the Abnaki 

 gradually withdrew to Canada and settled 

 chiefly at Becancour and Sillery, the 

 latter being afterward abamloned by 

 thein for St Francis, near Pierreville, 

 Quebec. The Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, 

 and Malecite, however, remained in their 

 ancient homes, and in 1749 the Penobscot, 

 as the leading tribe, made peace with the 

 English, accepting fixed bounds. Since 

 that period the different tribes have 

 gradually dwindled into insignificance. 

 The descendants of those who emigrated 



