Learning about the Abenaki

1
Learning about the Abenaki

• A Presentation by
• New Hampshire Historical Society

2
Using Natural Resources

• Even in the harsh climate and rugged terrain of
  the region we now call New Hampshire

3
Using Natural Resources

• Native Americans lived very well on the
  resources around them long before Europeans
  arrived.

4
Using Natural Resources

• Based on what you see, what resources do you
  think might be available to the Abenaki?

5
Fishing

• If you included hunting and fishing, you were
  absolutely right.
  
• Here you see an Indian catching fish with the
  aid of a weir
  
• and spear.

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Fishing

• Native Americans fashioned other tools for
  fishing, too
  
• like nets and plummets, which were attached to
  fishing line to take it below the surface.

7
Fishing

• The Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River
  provided excellent fishing in spring and summer.

8
Hunting

• Animals of field and forest were another natural
  resource for the Abenaki.

Indian Hunting Camp
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Hunting

• Hunting and stalking were exhausting and
  challenging tasks.
  
• They required great skill and strength.

10
Gathering
While men hunted and fished, women gathered the
regions resources

• Berries
• Nuts
• Herbs
• Tree saps

Indian Sugar Camp
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Growing

• In warmerregions, womenalso wereresponsiblefo
  r growingcrops
  
• especially, corn,beans, andsquash together
  called the three sisters.

12
Using Natural Resources

• The Abenaki were skillful at using their
  resources for more than

• hunting and fishing
• and
• gathering and growing

13
Shelter

• The forest resources of New Hampshire yielded
  tree bark and saplings for both
  
• temporary conical wigwams and
• more permanent dome-shaped wigwams

14
Food Preparation
Mortars and Pestles, made of wood or stone,
were used to grind or pound nuts and grains.
15
Food Preparation

• Originally, Indians carved bowls from stone
  work that was performed by men.
  
• When the Abenaki learned how to make clay pots,
  women took over the task of making the vessels.

16
Storage

• These baskets in the collections of the N.H.
  Historical Society show distinctive Abenaki
  design and use of natural resources
  
• birch bark and porcupine quills.

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Transportation

• New Hampshires waterways were like highways to
  the Abenaki. They made
  
• birch bark canoes for rivers and streams
• and dugout canoes for lake travel.
• And of course they walked!

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Using Natural Resources

• Basically, the Indians in New Hampshire were
  self-sufficient.
  
• They used the woods and waters of the region to
  fulfill their needs
  

from tools to toys

• All of this was about to change!

19
Contact

• The arrival of European traders and settlers in
  the 1600s brought many changes to the lives of
  Native Americans.
  
• What do you think were some of the immediate
  changes?

20
Contact

• Passaconaway, the great Pennacook sagamore,
  encouraged cooperation with the European
  newcomers.
  
• According to Native American tradition, Indians
  had been foretold of the coming of white people.

21
Contact
Extensive trade developed. What did each offer?
Indians could supply fish, furs, and forest
products.
Europeans could offer clothing, metal tools, and
beads.
22
Contact
The Abenakis traditional way of life was
doomed.There were several factors.

• Wars betweenEngland and France
• Increasing numbersof English settlers
• Differing ideasabout land ownership
• Growing Abenakidependence onEuropean goods
• And European diseases unknown to the Indians

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Abenakis Today

• While the Abenakiway of life may havebeen
  doomed, theAbenaki themselveswere not.
  
• Some still live amongus today, and morelive in
  Quebec where many emigrated in the 1700s.

24
Abenakis Today

• Some Native Americansare working to
  preservethe knowledge and skillsof their
  ancestors.
  
• Splitting ash to makebaskets, a
  traditionalAbenaki activity,
  
• is still very much inevidence today
  amongAbenaki craftsmen.

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2008 Christopher MacLeod for the New Hampshire
Historical Society