Bashabes

Bashabes , also Bessabez (* unknown; † 1615 ) was a Sagamore of the Kennebec , an Indian tribe of the Eastern Abenaki from the extreme northeast of the USA .

An anonymous description published by Samuel Purchas in 1625 indicates that the Eastern Abenaki had allied themselves in the early 17th century under the leadership of a man named Bashabes. The name also appears in other early sources and in different spellings, such as Bashaba , Bessabez, and Betsabes . He was one of 23 Sagamore mentioned in 21 villages on 11 rivers. He appears to have been the first among equals to become the recognized leader of all Eastern Abenaki.

The Kennebec Sagamore lived on Little Swan Island , a small island in the Kennebec River between what is now Richmond and Dresden in Maine , USA. He was called Bashabes and from him or from his ancestors the river and the tribe got his name. Presumably the Sagamore's residence was heavily fortified. The remains of this fortress can still be seen today. It was built in a circular shape from logs and had a probably underground entrance on the north side. When the whites began to colonize the fertile banks of the Kennebec River, the Indians had to give way. Bashabes was forced to leave his seat on Little Swan Island and the Indian village of Cushnuc near Augusta was devastated by the English.

The discoverer Samuel de Champlain met Bashabes on a research trip up the Penobscot River in 1604, who welcomed him with a ceremony. Champlain later reported:

On the sixteenth of the month about 30 Indians came to see us […] Bessabez also came with six canoes to see us. As soon as the Indians on the bank saw him arrive, they all began to sing, dance and hop until he landed. Then they all sat in a circle on the floor, as was their custom when they wanted to give a speech or hold a celebration ... Beesabez met us on the bank and after he had asked us to sit, he and his companions began to smoke.

Under the leadership of their Upper Sagamore Bashabe, the Norridgewock formed a powerful alliance with the Penobscot and other Eastern Abenaki, threatening their enemies, the Micmac , across the bay. The enmity had existed for a long time, but was exacerbated by competition in the fur trade with the French.

Around 1607 the Tarrantine War broke out between the Penobscot Confederation under Bashabes and the Micmac and the Maliseet allied with them . The war lasted eight years with interruptions. Meanwhile, the French, unhappy with the war, continued the lucrative fur trade with both sides. In 1615 the Micmac won the war after killing Bashabes in a raid on Mawooshen .

literature

• Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Vol. 15. Northeast . Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978, ISBN 0-16004-575-4

Web links

• Abenaki History