Penobscot << puh NOB skot >> are a Native American people of central Maine. They belong to the Algonquian language group of North American Eastern Woodlands tribes. Their name means rocky river or rocky place in their native language. The Penobscot River in central Maine is named for them.
The Penobscot traditionally made their living by hunting and fishing. They also planted corn and beans, gathered nuts and berries, and made maple syrup from maple tree sap. They lived in villages of up to 20 dome-shaped wigwams covered with bark. They traveled local rivers in large birchbark canoes.
The French explorer Samuel de Champlain became the first European to contact and begin trade with the Penobscot in 1604. About that time, the Penobscot joined with related tribes to form the Wabanaki Confederacy. This alliance of Algonquian-speaking groups also included the Abenaki, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, and Passamaquoddy tribes. The Wabanaki Confederacy often fought with nearby tribes of the Iroquois League for control of the fur trade (see Iroquois).
The Penobscot allied with France against the British and Iroquois in the French and Indian wars between 1689 and 1763. The Penobscot also sent warriors to support the colonists against the British in the American Revolution (1775-1783). The Wabanaki Confederacy officially disbanded in 1862. Today, about 1,500 Penobscot live in the United States, mostly in Maine. They still maintain relations with the other tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
