Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy or Pestemohkatíyek are a North American Indians - tribe of the Algonquian language family , which both sides of the border between the United States and Canada in the northeastern US state of Maine and the neighboring Canadian province of New Brunswick lived.
Linguistically, they belong to the Eastern Algonquin and speak the southern dialect of Malecite-Passamaquoddy (also Maliseet-Passamaquoddy ), a language whose northern dialect is spoken by the culturally and linguistically closely related Maliseet .
Surname
The colonial French expression Étchemin , which was often used until the beginning of the 18th century , was used as a collective term for the neighboring and related dialect-speaking peoples of the Maliseet ( Wolastoqiyik , Welastekwíyek - "people along the beautiful river, ie Saint John River ") and Passamaquoddy, which is why they were often used both races considered as one ethnic group by early explorers . The origin of the name "Etchemin" itself is unknown, it probably comes from the language of the neighboring hostile Algonquin or Montagnais ( Muhtaniyik, Muhtaniyok , singular: Muhtani ). As members of the powerful Wabanaki Confederation , both peoples are also often referred to as Maritime Abenaki or Eastern Wabanaki , since the tribal areas of the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy are parts of the Canadian Maritimes (also Maritime provinces or simply the Maritimes ) - the eastern areas of the Confederation - included.
The Passamaquoddy call themselves Pestemohkatíyek or Peskotomuhkatiyik (also: Peskotomuhkati , Pestomuhkati , singular: Pestémohkat , Peskotomuhkat ), literally something like "Those who fish peskotom , ie coalfish (pollock) ".
In addition, both - Maliseet and Passamaquoddy - simply referred to themselves as Skicinuwok ("(indigenous) people", "people", singular: Skicin ).
Their tribal area Peskotomuhkatihkuk or Peskotomuhkatik ("place where there is a lot of peskotom (Pollock)") extended in the 17th century over approx. 16,258 sqm (of which approx. 5,646 sqm in New Brunswick and approx. 10,612 sqm in Maine) along the catchment area des Saint Croix Rivers (also: Schoodic / Passamaquoddy River) in today's US-Canadian border area and comprised the coastal areas and inlets of Passamaquoddy Bay (at the mouth of the St. Croix River), Back Bay and Cobscook Bay ( Kapskuk ), several lakes ( such as Schoodic Lake ) and peninsulas in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and in the US state of Maine ( Malihkinuwi-Waponahkik - "Wabanaki Territory in America"). Other rivers were the Magaguadavic River, Canoose River ( Kenusihk ) and Machias River ( Moceyisk sip ) - later the Passamaquoddy and Maliseet called this area Kanatawtuk / Kanatawtoq ("on the border with Canada / in Canada") with reference to Canada . The Passamaquoddy had several significant settlements: Skutik on the Scoodic Peninsula (also known as "Schoodic Point", in the urban area of today's city of Gouldsboro, Maine ), Sipayik / Sebayik ("Pleasant Point" near Muselenk ("Moose Island"), today's Eastport, Maine on Passamaquoddy Bay, today: Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation), Motahkomikuk ("at the big lake", also: Kci-kuspemok / Kci-qospemok , mostly known in English as: "Indian Township" near Calais, Maine, today : Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation), Amilkesk ("at the end of the great lake", today Princeton, Maine) or Utoqehkik (today's Plantation Grand Lake Stream on the stream of the same name in Maine).
Qonasqamkuk ("on the sandbar", today St. Andrews-by-the-Sea , in New Brunswick) at the confluence of the St. Croix River in Passamaquoddy Bay, was the historic main settlement and the meeting place with the council fire of the Passamaquoddy there were sacred burial grounds there. There - on Qonasqamqi-monihkuk or Minister's Island - there is also a large Køkkenmødding (also: shell midden) (a prehistoric heap of rubbish made of mussel shells and snail shells, the remains of food production and preparation in living places and settlements, often as a result of tide fishing Sea or river banks), which is now one of the National Historic Sites of Canada in New Brunswick as the "Minister's Island Pre-contact Sites" .
There is also another significant historic site that is jointly administered and maintained by the United States and Canada, the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site on Saint Croix Island .
Other shell middens that can be found in the traditional tribal area point to a long and permanent settlement of this area by the Passamaquoddy. B. the Provincial Historic Sites "Fort LaTour Historic Site" and "Portland Point" in the area of Saint John Harbor on the north bank of the mouth of the Saint John River, "Mud Lake Stream Anthropological Site", in a good strategic location on the St. Croix River at the end of a portage or "Diggity Site", a rare historical site upstream inland or "Pagan Point", which is also the largest shell midden in the province at the east end of St. Andrews on the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay.
Antoine de Cadillac , a French adventurer, named the region on the Saint Croix River and the indigenous people living there Pesmocady in 1692 . Other names for the Passamaquoddy include Quoddy , Saint Croix Indians , Machias and Scotuk .
Culture
They lived together in patrilineal kinship groups, which, however, were never organized as a single tribe during the colonial period. Still, they viewed British officials as a single tribe and identified them by their area of residence. That didn't change when the jurisdiction was transferred from the colonial government in Massachusetts to the state of Maine.
Traditionally they lived most of the year in villages that were inhabited and abandoned in the annual cycle . They made their living by hunting, fishing and collecting wild plants and used birch bark and wood as material. Their villages, occasionally protected by palisades, consisted of round huts and a large meeting house. The tribal council consisted of the war chief, the peace chief and representatives from each family and made decisions on important matters, while the general council consisted of members of the entire tribe and decided exclusively on war and peace.
The most important material of the Passamaquoddy was birch bark, which was processed for almost all goods of daily use. Birch bark was used for the entire wigwam, for containers such as boxes, baskets, buckets, dishes and many other things. The birch bark moose call was an indispensable part of the hunting equipment, birch bark was used temporarily as rainwear and messages and instructions written on birch bark showed the traveler the way.
Chip baskets were made from the black ash and sold to tourists, for example the ornate basket made of colored ash chips, often with plaited sweet grass in between and a round bottom. Making an ornate basket was a woman's job, while the men woven the simpler potato basket. Other wooden items included ax handles, milk churns and other household items, and the sale of these wooden items provided a livelihood for many Maliseet families, especially towards the end of the 19th century. The manufacture of white ash- framed snowshoes and toboggans used to be an important homework. Even today, the making and repairing of potato barrels and potato baskets is considered an income opportunity.
history
First contacts with Europeans (from 1604)
The Passamaquoddy were one of the Indian tribes who first came into contact with Europeans. The wide bays of Maine's coast drew the attention of fishermen and explorers in the 17th century who were looking for a waterway across the newly discovered continent, the so-called Northwest Passage . Some of these early explorers were friendly, like those on Samuel de Champlain's expedition in 1604, but in 1609 Henry Hudson's bombardment and sacking of a village on the Penobscot River were not. Instead of finding the legendary city of Norumbega , these Europeans encountered a confederation of 22 Penobscot villages in western and central Maine under the rule of Bashabes . During the Tarrantin War in 1615, the Mi'kmaq raided a series of attacks in which the Bashabes were killed. After the end of the war, the Penobscot Confederation dissolved. Around 1617, the Passamaquoddy were hit by a devastating epidemic that killed 75 percent of all Indians on the New England coast . The survivors continued to trade with English and French merchants until the French gained dominance in the area in the 1630s. The growing dependence of the Indians on European trade goods led to the so-called Beaver Wars between the Iroquois and the Eastern Algonquin in the years from 1640 to 1701.
Wabanaki Confederation
As a reaction to the increasing military power of the strong Iroquois Federation , the Maliseet joined the Passamaquoddy, the formerly hostile Mihkomak ( Mi'kmaq , singular: Mihkom ; Maliseet nickname: Matuweskewinuwok - " porcupine hunter") and Panuwapskewiyik in the middle of the 18th century / Panuwapskewihik ( Penobscot , singular: Panuwapskew ) as well as the two large regional tribal groups of the Aponahkewiyik ( Abenaki , singular: Aponahkew ) - the Eastern Abenaki and Western Abenaki - a political-military alliance, the Kci-lakutuwakon ("large, significant treaty") , better known as the Wabanaki Confederation (often mistakenly the Abenaki Confederation ). This confederation comprised survivors of the once powerful Penacook Confederation and the Pocumtuc Confederation who had joined the Abenaki, as well as later other tribes allied with the French and their central meeting place called the Great Fire was in Kanawak / Kahnawake (Caughnawaga) in Québec. Delegations from each participating group attended meetings in Caughnawaga three times a year and took part in various ceremonies. At that time, the use of was at the Eastern Algonquian Wapap ( Wampums , plural: Wapapiyil / Wapapihil ) as a memory aid and the mutual exchange of Asuwihtahkusut (Wampumgürtels, plural: Asuwihtahkusutiyil ) important among the tribes messaging and for the tradition events (such B. of peace treaties or friendship alliances). The Wabanaki Confederation was officially dissolved in 1862, but the five tribes remained close allies, and the confederation lives on to this day in the form of a political alliance between these historically friendly nations.
The jointly controlled tribal area of the allied tribes was called the Maliseet-Passamaquoddy Waponahkik , many neighboring Eastern Algonquin tribes used similar names such as Wabanaki ("Land of the Dawn / Dawn, ie land in the east"); it comprised areas of historic Acadia (today's Canadian maritime provinces of Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , the south of the Gaspésie Peninsula and Québec south of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada ) and parts of New England (today's US states of Maine , New Hampshire , Vermont and Massachusetts ) in the northeastern United States .
The term Abenaki (or Abnaki) is often incorrectly used synonymously for Wabanaki - however, the Abenaki were only a member of the Wabanaki Confederation. Because of the incorrect use of the word Abenaki for Wabanaki, all Abenaki along with the Penobscot were often called Western Wabanaki , while the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy were called Eastern Wabanaki . The Passamaquoddy name for Wabanaki is Waponahkewiyik / Waponahkiyik .
The name Wabanaki is sometimes used collectively for all members of the confederation - so that an identification of the individual tribes is usually only possible in a geographical and historical context (if at all).
Wars involving the Passamaquoddy
| war | Duration |
|---|---|
| Tarrantine War | 1607-1615 |
| King Philip's War | 1675-1678 |
| King William's War | 1688-1699 |
| Queen Anne's War | 1702-1713 |
| Silly war | 1721-1725 |
| King George's War | 1745-1748 |
| Seven Years War in North America | 1755-1759 |
| American War of Independence | 1775-1783 |
French-British contrast
French Jesuits were able to convert many Passamaquoddy to the Catholic faith in the 18th century. These relationships were strengthened through marriages between French and Indians, the most famous of which was between Baron Jean-Vincent de Castin and Pidiwamiska , a daughter of the Penobscot chief Madockawando . In contrast to the rival Englishmen, the French succeeded in deepening the friendly relationships between them through their better empathy for the way of thinking of the natives. They found many loyal allies among the Northeast Indians, who fought at their side against the English in the colonial wars between 1689 and 1760.
Each of the five New England colonial wars had the same causes, namely British rule over the American Northeast and the fur trade, disputes over land ownership and indiscriminate mutual retaliation. Most of the borderline incidents occurred west of the Passamaquoddy residential area. The declarations of war by the English colonists were generally directed against the eastern Indians , not against named tribes and thus also against the Passamaquoddy. The Dummers War resulted in a significant influx of Abenaki refugees into the Passamaquoddy villages. The Passamaquoddy tried to remain neutral in the next two wars, but mutual distrust, disputes over contractual terms and encroachments by British scalp hunters nevertheless led to the entry into the war in 1745 and 1755.
The strategic location of the Passamaquoddy residential area during the colonial wars and the great distance from the colonists' settlements enabled them to maintain their independence and land until 1760. After the French and Indian War, however, the English claimed the entire tribal land for themselves through the rights of the conqueror , because the Indians had fought on the side of the defeated French. The English settlements quickly expanded northward along the Maine coast. In the American Revolutionary War, the Passamaquoddy helped the Americans in the hope that the French would return if they won.
Concentration Policy in Canada and the USA
In 1794, the Passamaquoddy had to cede large areas. The Kenusihk / Qonusihkuk (Canoose Reservation) settlement was established along the Canoose River on the lower Saint Croix River for those families who later moved to the Passamaquoddy Reservations in Maine. Other tribesmen lived in Kci-oqassutik ("large mooring (for boats)", today: St. Stephen ) and on the coast in Qonasqamkuk ("on the sandbar", today: St. Andrews ) and Mekikatewik ("place where it there are many eels ”, today: Saint George ). In the second half of the 19th century, the white authorities pursued a concentration of tribal people by moving the Passamaquoddy from Sipayik / Sebayik ("Pleasant Point") and other areas to their largest property, Motahkomikuk ("Indian Township") in Relocated near Princeton . Between 1820 and 1840, the tribe split into two political camps: the Old Party and the New Party . The division along the moiety lines continued, with occasional unrest, until the state intervened in 1866. This stipulated that the elections for the governor and his deputy should take place every year, with candidates who put up one party one year and the other the next. The proposal was democratic and well suited as a solution to the problem. Elections were later held only every two years, but the reciprocal election system lasted until 1931.
In addition to the political conflict, the Passamaquoddy were ravaged by cholera during this period . The deaths during the epidemics are seen as the lesser cause of fluctuations in the population, as the larger departures after 1818 and 1865 are probably the result of emigration.
Current situation
In the legislature of the US state of Maine there is one member of the Passamaquoddy and one member of the Penobscot, but without voting rights, who are only allowed to express themselves on questions of the tribal union. Most of the Passamaquoddy now live in two places in Maine that were important settlements before the Europeans arrived: either in Sipayik / Sebayik ("Pleasant Point", today: Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation) or in Motahkomikuk (also: Kci-kuspemok / Kci-qospemok , better known as: "Indian Township", today: Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation). Lured by jobs in new branches of industry, so many Passamaquoddy moved to Panuwapskek ("where there is an open rocky place", better known as: "Indian Island", capital of the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation) in the urban area of today's Old Town , so that the most widely spoken indigenous language is now the Passamaquoddy (skicinuwi-latuwewakon) and no longer the Penobscot-Abenaki (pαnawαhpskewi-alαtəwéwαkan) of the indigenous Penobscot. Many Maliseet and Passamaquoddy have moved further south, into the industrial areas of Connecticut and Massachusetts , in search of suitable work .
The Maine Department of Indian Affairs (dt. Office of Indian Affairs in Maine ) was founded in 1965 and has as its goal the establishment of programs for human and social development ... based on the obvious needs of the Indian population . With the Passamaquoddy, this authority seems to encourage a stronger sense of Indian identity.
The Aroostook Indians Association (AAI) was founded in 1970 through the collaboration of the local Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Ricker College in Houlton . Goals set out in a charter include launching community development programs and building social services. While the Maine Department of Indian Affairs deals exclusively with the affairs of the reservation Indians, the AAI tries to coordinate the social projects supervised by the State Department and to initiate further ones.
In view of high energy prices, the energy company Native Green Energy is trying to build wind turbines in reserves. At least two wind turbines are to be erected here in summer 2008, with four to six to follow by the end of the year.
Some Passamaquoddy now also live in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Although they have their own country, they are not recognized as a tribe ( First Nation ) in Canada . Her great wish is to return to Qonasqamkuk or Qonasquamsuck , the former main village with the burial place of the ancestors, which was near today's St. Andrews in New Brunswick.
Present-day Passamaquoddy tribes and groups
Today there are three separate and distinct tribal organizations of the Passamaquoddy.In the United States, the two federally recognized tribes of the Passamaquoddy are represented by the Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe , but each with its own tribal councils the reservations of "Pleasant Point" ( Sipayik / Sebayik ) and the "Indian Township" ( Motahkomikuk ), which is about 80 km away . In Canada they are not officially recognized as a First Nation and are represented by the Tribal Council of the St. Croix Schoodic Band near present-day St. Andrews, New Brunswick ( Qonasqamkuk ).
- Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township (own name: Peskotomuhkati Motahkomikuk - "Passamaquoddy of Indian Township" or Motahkomiqewiyik - "Inhabitants of Indian Township"), the administrative seat of Indian Township is along the Saint Croix River north of Princeton , Maine, the reservation (Motahkomikuk, engl. Pronunciation: 'Med -AHK-mi-guk') is located in eastern Washington County, Maine, covers approx. 112.5 km² and outside the reservation so-called trust lands (approx. 373.88 km²) in northern and western Somerset Counties , northern Franklin County, northeastern Hancock County, western Washington County and several parcels in eastern and western Penobscot County, Maine, population: 1,364 - of which about 700 live on the reservation)
- Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point (own name: Sipayikewiyik - "residents of Sipayik / Sebayik"; the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation or Sipayik / Sebayik (approx. 1.33 km²) is located on the peninsula of the same name, which is owned by the Passamaquoddy Sipayik (Engl Pronunciation: 'Si-BYE-eek' - "along the edge of the river bank") is called, bordered by Passamaquoddy Bay in the north and Cobscook Bay in the south - both bays traditional tribal fishing grounds, as well as various other wetlands, lakes and ponds on tribal areas in today's cities of Perry and Robbinston, the administrative seat is Perry, Maine, the tribe maintains the Waponahki Museum & Resource Center , which in addition to the art, culture and history of the Passamaquoddy also compiles a dictionary of the language, and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in memory of the Passamaquoddy warriors' support for Americans in the American Revolutionary War and later Wars against the British the Revolutionary War Monument , population: 2,106)
- Schoodic Band of the Passamaquoddy Nation of St. Andrew’s (also St. Croix Schoodic Band or Schoodic Band of the Passamaquoddy Tribe , the individual tribal members live in Charlotte County, New Brunswick and fight for traditional land rights around what is now St. Andrews (St Andrews-by-the-Sea), New Brunswick, since the area - called Qonasqamkuk by them - was once a main settlement and burial grounds of the Passamaquoddy, are not recognized by the Canadian government as a First Nation, and therefore have legal no land claims or rights, but they were able to present their concern to be recognized as the first and only First Nation of the Passamaquoddy in Canada, last before the UN in 2011, administrative seat: Qonasqamkuk (Indian Point, St. Andrews), population: 310 - acc. Statistics Canada 2002)
Demographics
| year | Total | Indian Township | Pleasant Point | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1726 | 150 | estimated | ||
| 1804 | 130 | estimated | ||
| 1825 | 379 | estimated | ||
| 1859 | 400-500 | estimated | ||
| 1971 | 1.006 | 213 | 793 | census |
| 2000 | 2,354 | 1,356 | 1,998 | census |
See also
literature
- Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 15. Northeast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, 1978 ISBN 0-16-004575-4 .
- Alvin M. Josephy Jr.: 500 Nations. Frederking & Thaler GmbH, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-89405-356-9 .
- Alvin M. Josephy Jr.: The world of the Indians. Frederking & Thaler GmbH, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-89405-331-3 .
Web links
- Passamaquoddy / Penobscot (English)
- Maliseet-Passamaquoddy online dictionary (English)
- Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal
- ^ Canada's Historic Places
- ↑ Members of the archaic indigenous peoples (approx. 6000 BC to 1000 BC) the Susquehanna (not to be confused with the historical Susquehannock ) and the Maritime Woodland period, who are now considered ancestors of the Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik), Mi ' kmaq and Passamaquoddy apply, they used the area they called Menahqesk / Menaqesk (area along the Saint John River) from about 4000 to 400 years before our time. Although later this area was mostly used by the Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik) as a significant place for gatherings, ceremonies, trade as well as gathering and hunting, the neighboring allies Mi'kmaq and Passamaquoddy also used this area.
- ↑ a b c d e Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 15. Northeast, Chapter: Maliseet-Passamaquoddy. Pp. 123 ff. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978, ISBN 0-16-004575-4 .
- ↑ the Penobscot reservation settlement known today as "Indian Island" was once called "Indian Town" because of its importance - it was the main settlement of the Penobscot; When a new American settlement was founded right on the other bank of the river, the Penobscot settlement was first called "Indian Old Town", but later the name part "Indian" was dropped and now transferred to the American city as "Old Town" former "Indian Old Town" became today's "Indian Island".
- ↑ See Krista J. Kapralos, Herald Writer: Why tribes may be key players in eco-energy. in: Herald Net, April 28, 2008.
- ^ Homepage of the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township
- ^ Homepage of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point
- ↑ Website of the Waponahki Museum & Resource Center ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
