Fellowship Point

The Wabanaki is the collective name for the Indigenous groups of the Abenaki, Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot. The name “Wabanaki” translates to “People of the First Light” or “Dawnland” (“About the Wabanaki.” Four Directions Development Corporation). Estimates suggest that 32,000 Wabanaki lived in an area that spread across Maine and into parts of Canada by the early 1600s. Thought to have inhabited present-day Maine for 11,000 years, the early Wabanaki were skilled hunters who constructed their own weapons, subsisting on bear, caribou, moose, deer, beavers, and possibly mammoths. Traditionally, the Wabanaki valued community and family; family units were large, and people within these units and beyond shared resources without question. They placed little emphasis on personal gain or wealth. This attitude shifted only when the presence of Europeans impacted the Wabanaki’s way of life (“Historical Impacts.” Wabanaki REACH). In the 1500s, these groups engaged in fur trading with French and English settlers. From these Europeans, the Wabanaki obtained woven cloth, copper pots, and firearms (“First Peoples.” Maine State Museum). This brought about competition among the Wabanaki, as obtaining more furs placed one in a better position to garner goods from Europeans.