The Penobscot (Abenaki: Pαnawάhpskewi) are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine.

The Penobscot Nation, formerly known as the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, is the federally recognized tribe of Penobscot in the United States. They are part of the Wabanaki Confederacy, along with the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Wolastoqiyik, and Miꞌkmaq nations, all of whom historically spoke Algonquian languages. The Penobscots' main settlement is now the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, located within the state of Maine along the Penobscot River.

Name

The Penobscot's name for themselves, Pαnawάhpskewi, means "the people of where the white rocks extend out". It originally referred to their territory on the portion of the Penobscot River between present-day Old Town and Verona Island, Maine. It was misheard by European colonizers as "Penobscot".

Government

The Penobscot Nation is headquartered in Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, Maine. The tribal chief is Kirk Francis.

History

Pre-contact

Indigenous peoples are thought to have inhabited Maine and surrounding areas for at least 11,000 years. They had a hunting-gathering society, with the men hunting beaver, otters, moose, bears, caribou, fish, seafood (clams, mussels, fish), birds, and possibly marine mammals such as seals. The women gathered and processed bird eggs, berries, nuts, and roots, all of which were found locally.

People on the present-day Maine coast practiced some agriculture, but not to the same extent as that of Indigenous peoples in southern New England, where the climate was more temperate. Food was potentially scarce only toward the end of the winter, in February and March. For the rest of the year, the Penobscot and other Wabanaki likely had little difficulty surviving because the land and ocean waters offered much bounty, and the number of people was sustainable. As contact became more permanent, after about 1675, conflicts arose through differences in cultures, conceptions of property, and competition for resources. Along the Atlantic Coast in present-day Canada, most settlers were French; in New England they were generally English speaking.

The Penobscot sided with the French during the French and Indian War in the mid-18th century (the North American front of the Seven Years' War) after British colonists demanded the Penobscot join their side or be considered hostile. In 1755, governor of Massachusetts Spencer Phips placed a scalp bounty on Penobscot. With a smaller population and greater acceptance of intermarriage, the French posed a lesser threat to the Penobscots' land and way of life.

Because it is a federally recognized sovereign nation with direct relations with the federal government, the Penobscot have disagreed with state assertions that it has the power to regulate hunting and fishing by tribal members. The Nation filed suit against the state in August 2012, contending in Penobscot Nation v. State of Maine, that the 1980 MICSA settlement gave the Nation jurisdiction and regulatory authority over hunting and fishing in the "Main Stem" of the Penobscot River as well as on its reservation.

At the request of the Nation, the US Department of Justice has joined the suit on behalf of the tribe. In addition, in an unprecedented step, five members of the Congressional Native American Caucus representing other jurisdictions filed an amici curiae brief in support of the Penobscot in this case. In addition to its reservation, the Nation owns islands in the river extending upriver; it also acquired hundreds of thousands of acres of land elsewhere in the state, as a result of the 1980 settlement of its land claim. Some analysts predict that this case will be as significant to Indian law and sovereignty as the fishing rights cases of Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, which resulted in the 1974 Boldt decision affirming their rights to fishing and hunting in their former territories. died in the 1990s. A dictionary was compiled by Frank Siebert. The elementary school and the Boys and Girls Club on Indian Island are making an effort to reintroduce the language by teaching it to the children. The written Penobscot language was developed with a modified Roman alphabet; distinct characters have been developed to represent sounds that do not exist in the Roman alphabet.

Ethnobotany

The Penobscot smear the sap of Abies balsamea over sores, burns, and cuts.

Visual art

thumb|Penobscot beaded [[moccasins, American Museum of Natural History]]

thumb|Wabanaki wampum belts (1915)

Baskets

The Penobscot traditionally made baskets out of sweet grass, brown ash, and birch bark. These materials grow in wetlands throughout Maine. However, the species are threatened due to habitat destruction and the emerald ash borer. This insect threatens to destroy all ash trees in Maine, much as it already has devastated ash forests in the Midwest.

The baskets were traditionally made for practical use, but after European contact, the Penobscot began making "fancy baskets" for trade with the Europeans. Basket-making is traditionally a woman's skill passed down in families. Many members of the tribe have been learning traditional forms and creating new variations.

Birchbark canoes

The birch bark canoe was at one time an important mode of transportation for all nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Each nation makes a characteristic shape of canoe. The vessels are each made from one piece of bark from a white birch tree. If done correctly, the large piece of bark can be removed without killing the tree.

Spirituality

The Penobscot have a deep-rooted connection to the land and its resources in Maine, reflected in their folklore and reverence for all living things. Their rich spiritual cosmology guides their efforts to preserve land and natural resources within their sacred homeland. The landscapes of Maine are central to the Penobscot's survival and beliefs, with their namesake river particularly cherished and personified. As Annette Kolodny observes, the Penobscot cosmology is "deeply rooted within the Maine landscape; their ethic of mutual obligation to a land full of spirits, animal-people, and daunting power is fundamentally geographic, every place name helping to orient a traveler in relation to both physical space and spiritual power."

Their reverence is also based on their cosmology starting with their origin story where Klose-kur-beh (Gluskbe) is the central character. Klose-kur-beh provides the Penobscot with "spiritual knowledge" and "practical knowledge (like how to construct a canoe)" as well instilling their "ethical precepts through" twelve 'episodes' which instill the importance of each unique value. Klose-kur-beh provides humans and animals with practical skills needed to thrive in the unforgiving climate of the North East and punishes those who operated outside of his code. Since Klose-kur-beh dates back to creation, according to Penobscot cosmology he was aware of other races and warned of the arrival of the white man, "What makes the white man dangerous is the lethal combination of his greed ('he [. . .] wanted the whole earth') and his lust for power ('he wants the power over all the earth'). That combination leads him to 'reach forth his hand to grasp all things for his comfort' and, in the process, virtually destroy the world".

The climax of the 1825 novel Brother Jonathan by Maine native John Neal is set on Indian Island during the American Revolutionary War. The novel features a protagonist of mixed Penobscot-English descent and describes the island as "the last encampment of the Penobscot Red men".

Notable Penobscot

  • Maulian Bryant, first Penobscot tribal ambassador, daughter of former chief Barry Dana.
  • Donna M. Loring, author, broadcaster, and tribal representative of the Penobscot
  • Madockawando, a sachem, led his people against the English settlers during King William's War
  • Sherri Mitchell, an attorney, author, teacher and activist
  • Wayne Mitchell, politician, was elected by the Penobscot Tribe of Maine to serve as a non-voting tribal representative to the Maine House of Representatives
  • Horace Nelson, political leader and the father of dancer and actress Molly Spotted Elk
  • Old John Neptune, medicine man and tribal leader mentioned by Henry David Thoreau
  • Joseph Nicolar, Tribal Representative to Maine Legislature and celebrated author of The Life and Traditions of the Red Man (1893)
  • Joseph Orono, sachem who urged his tribesmen to side with the Americans against the English
  • Lucy Nicolar Poolaw, entertainer billed as "Princess Watahwaso", businesswoman, and activist
  • Darren Ranco, anthropologist at the University of Maine
  • June Sapiel, activist
  • Rebecca Sockbeson, Wabanaki scholar, activist, and associate professor at the University of Alberta
  • Theresa Secord, artist, basketmaker, geologist and activist, related to Horace Nelson
  • Charles Norman Shay, a Penobscot Tribal Elder and decorated (Bronze Star, Silver Star, Légion d'honneur) veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.
  • Andrew Sockalexis, a marathon runner who competed in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, inducted into the Maine Running Hall of Fame in 1989
  • Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American to play in major league baseball (Cleveland Guardians).
  • Molly Spotted Elk (Mary Alice "Molly Dellis" Nelson Archambaud), 1903–1977, internationally known dancer who starred in the classic film, The Silent Enemy
  • ssipsis, poet, social worker, visual artist, writer, editor and storyteller, her work was focused on and inspired by the advancement of Indigenous peoples
  • Kiayaun Williams-Clark, American actor most notably from Saints of Newark, Power, and Guild
  • Carla Knapp, National Vice President of Native Services, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Many Penobscots moved to urban areas around the World War II era to Boston, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh; and the Cleveland, Ohio area to settled in the West Side (of the Cuyahoga River) or "Cuyahoga" neighborhood; and in Baltimore and Washington DC.

Maps

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

See also

  • Maine Wabanaki-State Truth and Reconciliation Commission
  • Maine penny
  • Penobscot Building
  • St. Anne's Church and Mission Site
  • Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton

References

  • Penobscot Indian Nation, official website
  • "The Ancient Penobscot, or Panawanskek". Historical Magazine, February 1872
  • Penobscot Bingo
  • Entirely by hand... from the ground up, Tom Hennessey" , Bangor Daily News
  • Wabanaki Ethnography, National Park Service
  • Harrison, Judy. "Indian Reservation Priests Follow a 300 year old tradition", Bangor Daily News
  • Indian Treaties