| Database status—Continuity Fred M. Wiseman ________________________________________________________________________ 1790 - “The seven domiciled villages of lower Canada represent the chiefs of the other nations. The sault St. Louis (Kahnawake) is the general great fire of all of the savages; after them the Abenakis, who between St Francois (Odanak) right down to the sea (The Gulf of Maine) comprise 42 villages.” Jean Baptiste D’Estimauville Jan. 10, 1797 National Archives of Canada RG 8, bob. C-2848, vol 250, pt i. Pp. 66-69 (Total manuscript) ________________________________________________________________________ 1800 - Our brothers, a few days ago we came to see our father Mister Johnson, then he made all of our hearths happy. He gave us a text… which states that the Iroquois (Kahnawake Mohawks) and the Five Nations do not possess the lands south of Lake Champlain, and that they belong to the Abenakis. National Archives of Canada RG 10 bob. C-11471, vol. 99, p. 41090. They (the Abenakis) continued to occupy (Franklin Co. VT), however, up to at least as late as 1800. Leslie Truax History of Franklin and Grand Isle Counties L.C. Aldrich, ed. D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, NY 1891 ________________________________________________________________________ 1830 - A party of Indians, fifteen… have been encamped at Windsor… They are part of the tribe of the Missisques, who live a wandering life on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, and are on a journey to Hanover, N. H. (They erected two wigwams and the leader’s name was Say-so-saph Sa-ba-tese Al-anum) Green Mountain Democrat April 3, 1835 “..two families of Indians from the banks of Lake Champlain have taken up residence in the city (Philadelphia, PA), dwelling in two birch bark tents, they propose to carry on the basket-making business.”. Hazard’s Register of Pennsylvania October 3, 1835 They (St. Francis Indians) were in the habit of drifting back in bands of eight to ten families to favorite camping grounds (in northwestern VT) up to as late as 1835 or 1840. Leslie Truax History of Franklin and Grand Isle Counties L.C. Aldrich, ed. D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, NY 1891 ________________________________________________________________________ 1840 - Nails from the Bushy site, a Native American burial ground on Monument Road Highgate, VT (human remains identified as native by Deborah Blom, UVM). There were at least three types of nails remaining in the severely damaged coffins: a late 1700’s type with a wrought head and a machine cut shaft, a later, early 19th century style that had a single pass cut body and head, and a distinctive 1830’s + style that had a two pass cut by the nail cutting machine. There were no wire nails of the late 19th century in evidence. The presence of a multi decade native cemetery distinctly separated from the contemporaneous burial ground in Swanton (on Church St., across from the Town Offices) shows an organized use of a plot of land, thereby indicating a “larger than family” corporate native existence. While Anglo families may have family plots, there is abundant evidence that Eastern Native Americans buried their dead in communal plots. The fact that nails date to different periods indicates a multi-decade communal memory of the unmarked burial spaces. ________________________________________________________________________ 1850 - “A deputation of the St. Francis Indians, at Montpelier, claiming compensation for all that territory in Vermont west of Otter Creek, and between Lake Champlain and where the waters begin to flow into the Connecticut…” The Caledonian. Nov. 26, 1853 ________________________________________________________________________ 1860 - Oct. 1863 GEORGE BURK, CHARLES PARTLOW, JASON VOSBURG, ALBERT OLENA, Four Indians Alburgh, VT; Land and Miscellaneous Records. Book 16, pp. 593-594, ________________________________________________________________________ 1880 - “Of the origins of this Burial ground… the St. Francis (Abenaki) Indians…knew nothing… as I was… told by one of the few surviving members of the tribe.” Abbe Hemmingway, Vermont Historical Gazetteer. 1883. Vol. IV: 945 ________________________________________________________________________ 1900 - Original Document Chief of the Wabanacus, Highgate VT. Real Photo Postcard. Purchased on the Internet from a California collector. The inscription was scratched into the negative with a stylus before printing the postcard, so it cannot be a later addition. Original inscription Monument Road Monument: Mission to the St. Francis Indian—this is the important document that makes the point that Vermont Abenakis were called “St. Francis.” Needed to cast doubt on the Odanak hypothesis ________________________________________________________________________ 1910 - Alice Roy, Barre, VT, interview where she tells of her father visiting the Indians in northern Vermont, with descriptions of clothing and housing. ________________________________________________________________________ 1910 - Original inscription Watch, engraved, 1918, with fancy beaded watch-fob. Purchased from a New Jersey estate sale. Was supposed to be from Chester A. Arthur’s family this cannot be confirmed, even though there is Stevens ancestral connection in Arthur’s mothers’ genealogy. ________________________________________________________________________ 1930 - Alice Roy and Prof. James Petersen share personal and family stories of Vermont’s Gypsies in the 1930’s. Mrs. Roy indicated that the Franco-Vermont community knew that the Gypsies were Indians, and Petersen’s Addison County family heirloom basket is distinctively Abenaki in style. Collectively, this is archival testimony of the existence of an existing Abenaki migratory community persisting into the 1930’s. ________________________________________________________________________ 1940 - Fish spear, Wabanaki style, given to Frederick Kermit Wiseman by Ed Hakey. Was Hakey’s spear when he was young and “used through the Second World War.” ________________________________________________________________________ 1950 - Original Object with oral history Canoe cup, Edward Hakey, made for Fred M. Wiseman in 1959. This was made by Ed Hakey who told me that it would “turn into a loon” when turned upside down. Penobscot canoe cups are well-known and very valuable ethnic identifiers; only known 20th century VT Abenaki example. Original Object with Oral History Bark canoe and card. This canoe and its 1970’s era photocopy/information card are collectively the only known example of a Vermont bark canoe made in the distinctive Abenaki design more well known from Odanak. However, the Paquettes are a Highgate, VT family. The only known mid 20th century bark-work “tourist item” made by VT Abenakis. ________________________________________________________________________ 1960 - Original Object with Oral History Cradleboard. Stylistically dated to the 1950’s and 1960’s by nylon ribbon detail. This object was traded to me by Ben Gravel, in the mid 1960’s and used by his sister to put babies in after they were born. It was too “modern,” for his collection of Indian artifacts, and I traded him an Attikamek cradleboard for it. This cradleboard, is in very good condition and shows creative and idiosyncratic use of 1960’s parts, and materials, such as macramé beads, loomed nylon tape, and commercial leather. Seems to have been artificially “antiqued” to make it seem more authentic. ________________________________________________________________________ | |||||||||||
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NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN QUEBEC: A SHORT CHRONOLOGY (provided by John Moody) |
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| Creation -1600 AD | Abenaki creation traditions linked to origins at Patambagok, Lake Champlain/Champlain Valley. Abenaki creation and transformer traditions centered in present Vermont and New Hampshire. | ||||||||||
| 10,000 BC - 1600 AD |  |
Native peoples confirmed in Vermont, New Hampshire and Southern Quebec by archeologists. Life in the Ancient Villages |
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| 1500 - 1609 AD | Estimated 10,000 Abenakis in Vermont & 12,000 confirmed in New Hampshire. | ||||||||||
| 1609 - 1760 | |
Western Abenaki maintain their ancient homeland called Ndakinna [Our Land] and Wabanaki [Dawn Land] in Vermont, New Hampshire and Southern Quebec. Darkness Falls |
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| 1760 | Abenaki population in Vermont at least 1,200 and at least 700 in New Hampshire. Many known Abenaki village and camping sites in the region. | ||||||||||
| 1760 - 1800 | |
Abenaki Nation works to keep Missisquoi homeland in the Swanton, Vermont area. Abenakis still present in upper Connecticut River area and elsewhere in the northeast. | |||||||||
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Two Abenaki mission towns in Quebec, Odanak/St. Francis and Wolinak/Becancour, become Canadian Reserves with maximum population of 1,200. | |||||||||
| 1790 - 1970 | US census lists under 100 Indians in Vermont & New Hampshire to 1960 and 500 in 1970. | ||||||||||
| Odanak & Wolinak population is no more than 550, with several off reserve Abenaki enclaves known in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York and Quebec. | |||||||||||
| Population of Abenaki in northwestern Vermont confirmed to be at least 1,000 by 1840 & 1,500 by 1910. Actual totals in Vermont/New Hampshire were unknown. | |||||||||||
| 1800 - 1974 | |
Abenakis at Missisquoi dispersed out of old village. Many Abenakis survive on the edge of non-Indian towns and in remote areas. Eugenics |
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| 1972 - 1974 | Abenaki Nation in northwestern Vermont re-emerges. New Hampshire Indian Council formed. | ||||||||||
| 1974 - present | |
Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi recognized by other Indian groups. | |||||||||
| 1979, 1983, 1987 & 1995 | Abenaki people hold four fish-ins on the Missisquoi River. Charges are dropped by the State of Vermont in the 1979, 1983, and 1995 cases. | ||||||||||
| 1980 | |
US census shows 989 Indians in Vermont, concentrated in the northwestern portion of the State. 1,352 are identified in New Hampshire. | |||||||||
| 1989 | Abenaki Nation/Missisquoi wins fish-in case in the Wolchek decision. The State of Vermont activates the Governor's Commission on Native Affairs. Sovereignty Moves to the Fore |
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| 1990 | |
Documented Abenaki Nation/Missisquoi population at least 2,000. US census shows 1,696 Indians in Vermont and 2,134 in New Hampshire. Actual populations still unknown. | |||||||||
| 1991 | Vermont Supreme Court overturns the Wolchek decision. At Missisquoi, the Abenaki Indian Education Center expands. The Abenaki Health Center is founded. Abenaki Nation/Missisquoi renews its federal recognition application. | ||||||||||
| 1991 - present | |
The New Hampshire Inter-tribal Council is reactivated. Coosuc groups also emerge in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Abenaki Nation/New Hampshire emerges. | |||||||||
| May 3rd, 2006 | Vermont Legislators pass Bill S.117 Recognizing the Abenaki People and Governor Douglas signs it into law. | ||||||||||
To learn more about Abenaki history please visit the following sites:
Abenaki Culture & History Menu http://www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/menu_his.shtml
Abenaki History by Lee Sultzman http://www.dickshovel.com/aben.html
Abenaki Culture & History Menu http://www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/menu_his.shtml
Abenaki History by Lee Sultzman http://www.dickshovel.com/aben.html
This website was funded through a Rural Business Enterprise Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.