ABENAKI INDIANS IN VERMONT

THE ABENAKI WERE FRIENDLY WITH MOST AREA GROUPS,EXCEPT THE IROQUOIS. THEY SPEAK ALGONQUIAN. IN 1609 CHAMPLIAN, A FRENCH EXPLORER WAS HERE IN 1609 AND JOINED THEM AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES. VERMONT IS A FRENCH NAME FOR GREEN MOUNTAINS. IN 1971 VERMONT WAS THE FIRST STATE ADDED TO THE UNION.

THEY CALLED THE IROQUOIS 'MAN EATERS' AS THEY OCCASIONALLY PRACTICED CANNABALISM ON ENEMIES. THEY RAIDED THE ABENAKI. BEFORE ANY DECISION TO HAVE A WAR, THEY HAD MANY COUNSELORS, INCLUDING A WOMEN'S COUNCIL. NO ONE HAD TO OBEY THE WOMEN'S CHIEF. IT WAS BY PERSUASION.

WHEN ANGLOS ARRIVED THE ABENAKI HAD A HEALTHIER DIET. A MORE TIME FOR FUN THAN THE ANGLOS. THEIR WAY OF LIFE CHANGED DRASTICALLY THAT THEY HAD FOR 1000'S OF YEARS. 11,000 OR 13,000 B.C., PALEO INDIANS LIVED HERE. BY 7300 B.C. THE MEGAFAUNA BECAME EXTINCT AND THE ENVIRONMENT WAS WARMER. BY 1600 AD OR 3000 YEARS AGO THEIR CULTURE BEGAN TO BLOOM AND THEIR GROWTH DEVELOPED. THEY FOLLOWED THE SEASONS TO HUNT AND GATHER. BY 1609 THE ANGLOS ARIVED. THEY WERE AFFECTED BY DISEASES, WAR, AND CULTURAL CONFLICTS. MANY NATIVE AMERICAN CREATION STORIES ARE ROOTED IN NATIVE AMERICAN ENVIRONMENT VS. FROM ASIA. THEY TRADED WITH OTHER GROUPS AS THEY WERE EXPLORERS. BY LATE WOODLAND PERIOD THEIR SETTLEMENTS WERE NEXT TO VERMONT'S LAKES AND RIVER VALLEYS. THEY LIVED IN BANDS IN VILLAGES WITH AT LEAST 1000 PEOPLE PER VILLAGE WITH LONGHOUSES FOR UP TO FORTY PEOPLE. THEY FOLLOWED SEASONAL MIGRATIONS WITHIN BANDS. IN THE WINTER FAMILIES STAYED IN THE VILLAGE, MAKING TOOLS, AND REPAIRING OLD ONES. THE WOMEN MADE CLOTHING AND SEWED PORCUPINE QUILLS ON THEIR MOCCASINS. THEY DID NOT HAVE WARS IN WINTER.

IN LATE WINTER THEY HUNTED TO GIVE THE ANIMAL POPULATION TIME TO RECOVER AND MAINTAIN ANIMAL NEEDS. IN SPRING THEY FISHED FOR SALMON AND SHARD. SOME SALMON WEIGHED 35 POUNDS. THE WOMEN GATHERED SPRING PLANTS COLLECTED SAP AND BOILED IT. THEY MADE SUGAR CAKES FOR STORING AND GATHERED HERBS AND MEDICINES. IN APRIL THEY PLANTED THEIR CROPS, CORN, BEANS AND SQUASH. THEY STORED VEGETABLES IN PITS BENEATH SMALL HOUSES AND GREW TOBACCO. THE SOUTHERN VILLAGES STAYED CLOSER TO THEIR VILLAGES THAN THE NORTHERN VILLAGE.

IN THE NORTHERN VILLAGES THE HUNTED AND GATHERED MORE THAN FARMED. THEY HAD SHORTER GROWING SEASONS. IN SUMMER THEY CAUGHT FISH AND HUNTED SMALL MAMMALS AND GATHERED WILD PLANTS. THEIR BERRIES AND NUTS WERE IMPORTANT. CATTAILS WERE ALSO IMPORTANT. THEY ATE THE YOUNG SHOOTS.

THEY TRADED WITH FRIENDLY PEOPLE AND DEVELOPED LONG DISTANCE NETWORKS NORTHEAST AND TO CANADA AND THE MIDWEST. THEY CELEBRATED THE HARVEST CEREMONIES. THEY STORED THEIR NUTS AND DRIED MEAT IN BARK LINED PITS.

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