Wabanaki Confederacy

The Wabanaki Confederacy ((Wabenaki, Wobanaki), as it is known in English, was a historical confederation of five North American Algonquian language-speaking Indian tribes.

The members of the Wabanaki Confederacy—the Wabanaki peoples—were located in, and named for, the area they called Wabanaki (Dawnland). This area was known to European settlers as Acadia and is now most of Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, plus some of Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River. The Western Abanaki were located in New Hampshire, Vermont, and into Massachusetts.

Members of the Wabanaki Confederacy were:

• (Western) Abenaki
• (Eastern) Abenaki
• Míkmaq (Mi'kmaq or Micmac)
• Penawapskewi (Penobscot)
• Pestomuhkati (Passamaquoddy)
• Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet or Malicite)

They were also closely allied with the Innu and Algonquin, and with the Iroquoian-speaking Wyandot.

The Wabanaki Confederacy disbanded in 1862, but the five Wabanaki nations still exist, and they remain friends and allies today.

In 1993, the Council fire of the Wabanaki Confederacy was relit for the first time in two hundred years in Listuguj. The Listuguj community hosted this auspicious and historical event and witnessed the rebirth of the Wabanaki Confederacy which brought together the Passamaquoddy Nation, Penobscot Nation, Maliseet Nation, the Mi'kmaq Nation and the Abenaki Nation.

"Wabanaki Confederacy" in various indigenous languages

The term Wabanaki Confederacy in many Algonquian languages literally means "Dawn Land People." Wabanaki Confederacy as called by the members of the confederation is:

• Mi'kmaq: Wabanahkiyik
• Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: Waponahkiyik/Waponahkewiyik
• Abenaki-Penobscot: Wôbanakiak

and in other related languages as:

• Algonquin: Wàbanakìk
• Ojibwe: Waabanakiig/Waabanakiiyag
• Odawa: Waabnakiig/Waabnakiiyag
• Potawatomi: Wabnekiyeg

History

Beginning with King William's War in 1689, members of the Wabanaki Confederacy of Acadia participated in six major wars before the British defeated the French in North America:

• King William's War (1689–1697)
• Queen Anne's War (1702–1713)
• Father Rale's War (1722–1725)
• King George's War (1744–1748)
• Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755)
• French and Indian War (1754–1763)

Further reading

• Frank G. Speck. "The Eastern Algonkian Wabanaki Confederacy". American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1915), pp. 492-508
• McBride, Bunny. (2001) Women of the Dawn
• Mead, Alice. (1996) Giants of the Dawnland: Eight ancient Wabanaki legends
• Prins, Harald E.L. “The Crooked Path of Dummer's Treaty: Anglo-Wabanaki Diplomacy and the Quest for Aboriginal Rights.” Papers of the Thirty-Third Algonquian Conference. H.C. Wolfart, ed. Winnipeg; U Manitoba Press (2002): 360-378
• Walker, Willard. “The Wabanaki Confederacy.” Maine History 37 (3) (1998): 100-139

External links

• Native Languages of the Americas: Wabanaki Confederacy
• “Wabanaki People—A Story of Cultural Continuity”, timeline curriculum unit developed by the Abbe Museum.
• Storm Clouds Over Wabanakiak Confederacy Diplomacy Until Dummer's Treaty (1727) by Dr. Harald E. L. Prins
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• Miingignoti-Keteaoag—a partnership committed to maintaining the integrity and way of life of the Wabanaki Nations

Maps

Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy (from north to south):

• 
  Mi'kmaq
• 
  Maliseet, Passamaquoddy
• 
  Eastern Abenaki (Penobscot, Kennebec, Arosaguntacook, Pigwacket/Pequawket)
• 
  Western Abenaki (Arsigantegok, Missisquoi, Cowasuck, Sokoki, Pennacook