Kennebec (people)

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Former residential area of ​​Kennebec

The Kennebec (also Caniba ) or Kinipekw , later also named after an important village Norridgewock (a corruption of Nanrantsouak - `` people of still water between the rapids ''), were an Algonquin- speaking Indian tribe in northeastern North America , linguistically and culturally to the eastern Abenaki was owned. They were members of the Wabanaki Confederation , but lost their identity as early as the 18th century by mixing with other groups. Their descendants can be found today in the Indian reservations of Wôlinak and Odanak in the Canadian province of Québec .

Surname

Kennebec appears both in the publication of Samuel Purchas in 1617 as Kennebeke , denoting a village, and in the earliest French sources. It means Kinipekw in Abenaki and means Big Calm Water or Big Bay . It probably relates primarily to Merrymeeting Bay . The name has since expanded to include the entire river and its residents. The 18th century Kennebec were commonly called Norridgewock after their last remaining village. The Amaseconti were a subdivision of the Sandy River , most of which moved to Wôlinak in the Canadian province of Québec in 1704. The Wawenock were the inhabitants of Bécancour, called Wawinak in Penobscot , which undoubtedly means round or oval island , perhaps after a nearby island in the Saint Lawrence River ; however, it is a village name, not a tribal or linguistic division.

Way of life

The Kennebec culture was similar to the Algonquian way of life in southern New England . Because they lived largely on crops such as maize, beans and pumpkins, their villages were usually on the fertile river banks. The area of ​​cultivation depended on the size and location of the villages. The diet was supplemented by game, fish and wild plants. The proportion of fish and seafood changed with the location of the villages. In sterile areas, fish was often used as fertilizer to get better corn yields.

For most of the year the Kennebec lived in groups made up of several extended families, spread over hunting grounds that were inherited in the male line. Unlike the Iroquois, the Abenaki and most of the New England Algonquin were patrilineal . In spring and summer, the groups gathered to plant or fish in certain places on the river banks or on the coast. These summer villages were sometimes fortified when there was war in the area. Compared to the Iroquois settlements, most of the Kennebec villages were on the small side with an average of 100 people. Some Kennebecs built oval longhouses, but most lived in a dome-shaped wigwam covered with bark or woven mat during the summer months . At the beginning of winter, the Kennebec split up into smaller groups and moved further inland, where they lived in bark-covered, cone-shaped wigwams that resembled the tepees of the Plains Indians .

The Abenaki are more of a geographic and linguistic group than a political group. Before contact with Europeans, the individual tribes were the basis for a political organization. During times of war, several tribes would occasionally gather under a strong sachem , but the Abenaki were known for the general lack of central leadership. Even at the tribal level, the authority of the sachem was limited, and major decisions such as war and peace usually required a gathering of all adults. The Abenaki Confederation was not formed until 1670, and only in response to the permanent wars against the Iroquois and English colonists. Even that fact didn't change much, as complaints in reports from French officers indicate that the Abenaki leaders often had problems with controlling their warriors.

In many cases, the lack of central authority proved beneficial to the Kennebec. In the event of a war, the inhabitants could quickly leave their villages and split up into smaller groups in order to later reunite at a safe distance from the enemy. It was a strategy that confused both the Iroquois and the English with repeated attempts at conquest. But this strategy also led to the assumption that the Abenaki were nomads. Because the Abenaki used to flee to Canada during wartime, the New England government suspected that they were Canadian Indians. That assumption resulted in much of their land in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont being settled for no consideration. Only the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy signed treaties and kept some of their traditional land. The other Abenaki were expropriated, went unnoticed and lived in small groups in their traditional homeland. New England has numerous romantic monuments that are said to commemorate the fall of the natives - a mistake because they have not really all disappeared.

history

When whites first entered the valley of the Kennebec River , they met members of the tribe of the same name. 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 it was from him or his ancestors that the river and the tribe took its 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.

The Kennebec were divided into four tribes and each in turn was led by a chief. But Bashabes was seen as the chief. The Kennebec Valley area was divided among the four tribes.

The Sagadahoc inhabited the land between Merrymeeting Bay and the Atlantic Ocean . The Cussenock settled in the area of ​​today's city of Augusta . The Tacconet owned the fertile region on the Sebasticook River , a tributary of the Kennebec River, and the mighty Norridgewock inhabited the sacred valley of the Norridgewock River .

The families gave the waters flowing through their residential areas special names. The Kennebec River between Merrymeeting Bay and the ocean was named Sagadahoc in honor of the tribe who settled on its banks. Between Merrymeeting and Skowhegan Falls, the river was named after Chief Bashabes. Between Skowhegan and Solon the river was called Aruntsook and from the falls near Solon to Moosehead Lake it was called Carratunk . Moosehead , the source of the river, was called Cerbon , which means great body of water .

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. The remains of the four tribes petitioned the British governor of Maine. But the request to be allowed to live peacefully on the upper reaches of the river was finally rejected and in August 1724 the last Kennebecs were driven to Canada.

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