Sokoki
The Sokoki are an Algonquin- speaking Indian tribe in northeastern North America and linguistically and culturally belong to the Western Abenaki. They belonged to the Abenaki - Confederation of. Their descendants are now organized in the St. Francis Sokoki Band of Missisquoi and strive for federal recognition by the US government.
Name and area of residence
The name Sokoki comes from their proper name Ozogwaki , in the plural Ozokwakiak and means people who destroy . A few variants are added, namely in French Assokekik , Sokokioi , Sokoquioi , Sokoqui ; in English Sowquachick , Squakey , Suckquakege , Zooquagese ; in Dutch Soquackick .
The geographically central tribe of the Western Abenaki region, who also shaped the beginnings of the village of Saint Francis , now called Odanak , were the Sokoki from the upper Connecticut River . The name Sokoki had been mistakenly applied to the Indians of the Saco River by nineteenth-century historians , and writers believed that the residents of Squagheag , the southernmost Sokoki village near Northfield , should be viewed as an isolated and distinct group. Documents from the 17th century show the Sokoki as the inhabitants of the entire upper Connecticut River, who were able to extend the name Sokoki to the Cowasuck in Newbury .
The earliest known villages of the Western Abenaki - Penacook , Squagheag, Missisquoi - were protected for defense with the same palisades as Saint Francis. The villages were typically built on the edge of a cliff, both near the alluvial land suitable for growing maize, and with an adequate water supply. All villages were close to a river or lake, which was used for fishing and as a travel route. Their houses were square, covered with bark, had vaulted roofs with a hole to let out smoke for each fire, and provided space for several families.
Way of life
The livelihood was secured mainly through an annual cycle of hunting, gathering and cultivation. The first activity in the spring was tapping maple trees to make syrup, and presumably sugar, for both immediate consumption and storage. This was followed by catching large quantities of fish from the spring schools, which were immediately consumed or smoked. Spring plants, the tubers of earth pears and wild potatoes were collected. Wild pigeons (English Passenger Pigeons, Ectopistes migratorius) were shot out of the spring trains. In May the fields were tilled with corn, beans and pumpkins, while tobacco was planted in small separate gardens. Summer livelihood activities consisted of weeding the corn fields, fishing, and berry picking when a variety became ripe. Blueberries were particularly valued.
A long stay on one of the larger lakes to fish and to escape the insect plague in the woods was interrupted by traveling back to the village to weed the fields. The Sokoki sometimes even migrated to the seashore in summer. In the late summer, medicinal plants were collected, dried and stored. Nuts were also collected, the most important of which were butternuts (Juglans cinerea) and chestnuts, which are now extinct. In the fall, the abundant waterfowl was shot or caught in nets, and flocks of wild pigeons were killed when they gathered to fly south. Eels were caught and smoked for the winter. The Sokoki hunted deer by stalking rather than driven hunts. All fur bearers were caught in traps; Beavers and muskrats were caught in their burrows by the water.
history
Like the other Western Abenaki, many Sokoki fled to Canada and settled in Saint Francis and Bécancour , where they converted to the Catholic faith and in some cases took on new names from saints of the Christian Church, such as St. Germain and St. Francis . Some Sokoki have stayed in St. Francis and Bécancour, although many groups have left these places over the years. Today, Sokoki people are scattered across New England , with many going to big cities like Boston to find work.
Neither the state of Vermont nor the United States has ever recognized land claims or the tribal status of the Abenaki resident there. The Sokoki, today organized in the St. Francis / Sokoki Band , filed numerous claims for ownership of parts of their old residential area, but all of them have so far been rejected. Even the application for state recognition submitted in 1982 has not yet been decided.
See also
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literature
- Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 15: Northeast . Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978, ISBN 0-16004-575-4 .