Abenaki

ABENAKI. The Abenaki were a loose confederacy of Algonquin tribes located in what is now northern New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces. European contact brought a number of devastating plagues that reduced the population of the confederacy by an estimated three-fourths. After King Philip's War in 1676, the Abenaki absorbed most of the fleeing natives of southern New England. Allied with the French, who had a mission at Norridgewock on the Kennebec, the Abenaki resisted English expansion into northern New England, launching a number of preemptive raids against settlements. In 1722 Massachusetts declared war on the Abenaki. What is known as Dummer's War reached a climax when the New Englanders destroyed Norridgewock in 1724. The Kennebec, part of the Abenaki confederation, were dispersed, mainly into Canada, and their new capital was located on the St. Francis River near its junction with the St. Lawrence. A peace treaty was signed in 1727. The Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Malecite did not migrate, however, and in 1749 the former nation made peace with the English. Some other Indians returned to Norridgewock, but this place was raided again in 1749; in 1754 its inhabitants returned to St. Francis. There they were attacked in 1759 by Robert Rogers, who burned their town and ended their participation in the Seven Years' War. The American Revolution divided the Abenaki. Most sided with the British, but the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy served with the rebels while the St. Francis and Micmac split between the two contenders. Massachusetts acknowledged the services of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy by granting them reservations in northern Maine; the remaining Abenaki lost all claim to their lands within the new United States and sought refuge in Canada. The Abenaki are no longer even recognized by the U.S. government as existing.

SEE ALSO Rogers, Robert.

                            revised by Michael Bellesiles