Abenaki , << ah buh NAH kee, >> are a Native American people of northeastern North America. The Abenaki belong to the Algonquian language group of Eastern Woodlands tribes.
The Abenaki traditionally grew corn and beans. They also relied on hunting and fishing and the gathering of edible wild plants for food. The Abenaki traveled local rivers in large birchbark canoes. They lived in cone-shaped wigwams lined with animal skins for warmth.
The Abenaki were one of five tribes that made up the Wabanaki Confederacy in the early 1600’s. This alliance of Algonquian-speaking groups also included the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot. The name Wabanaki means dawn land in their native language. It refers to the eastern homeland of the tribes in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. The confederacy helped the tribes to defend themselves against the powerful Iroquois League (see Iroquois ).
The Wabanaki Confederacy fought on the side of the French in the French and Indian wars between 1689 and 1763. Many Abenaki moved to Canada by the end of these wars. Some remained and supported the colonists against the British in the American Revolution (1775-1783). Today, most of Canada’s Abenaki live on two reserves (lands set aside for the tribe by treaty) in Quebec. Many other Abenaki live in scattered communities throughout New England in the United States.
