Abenaki language

When the Wampanoag under Metacomet, also called "King Philip", fought the English colonists in New England in 1675 in King Philip's War, the Abenaki joined the Wampanoag. For three years there was fighting along the Maine frontier in the First Abenaki War. The Abenaki pushed back the line of white settlement by devastating raids on scattered farmhouses and small villages. The war was settled by a peace treaty in 1678.

During Queen Anne's War in 1702, the Abenaki were allied with the French; they raided numerous small villages in Maine from Wells to Casco, killing about 300 settlers over ten years. The raids stopped when the war ended. Some captives were adopted into the Mohawk and Abenaki tribes; older captives were generally ransomed, and the colonies carried on a brisk trade.[13]

The Third Abenaki War (1722–1725), called Dummer's War, erupted when the French Jesuit missionary Sébastien Rale (or Rasles, 1657?–1724) encouraged the Abenaki to halt the spread of Yankee settlements. When the Massachusetts militia tried to seize Rasles, the Abenaki raided the settlements at Brunswick, Arrowsick, and Merry-Meeting Bay. The Massachusetts government then declared war, and bloody battles were fought at Norridgewock (1724), where Rasles was killed, and at a daylong battle at Pequawket, an Indian village near present-day Fryeburg, Maine, on the upper Saco River (1725).

Peace conferences at Boston and Casco Bay brought an end to the war. After Rale died, the Abenaki moved to a settlement on the St. Francis River.[14]

The Abenaki from St. Francois continued to raid British colonial settlements in their former homelands along the New England frontier during Father Le Loutre's War (see Northeast Coast Campaign (1750)) and the French and Indian War.

Due to French and English contact with Western Abenaki people in the 1640s and earlier, many loan words were quickly incorporated into Western Abenaki and have stayed for nearly four centuries. During the latter half of the 19th century, word borrowing increased due to many Western Abenaki people being in close contact with summer resorts in Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as continued contact with French-Canadians. Notably, plural English nouns were borrowed into Western Abenaki as a singular form that were then made plural by adding Abenaki plural endings. For example, the word oxen was borrowed as asken ‘an ox’ that was pluralized into aksenak. Similarly, the word potatoes was borrowed as badades ‘potato’ that was pluralized into badadesak.[5]

Amaseconti, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Maliseet, Ouarastegouiak, Passamaquoddy, Patsuiket, Penobscot, Pigwacket, Rocameca, Sokoni, and Wewenoc.

Seven mission orientated communities along the St. Lawrence River in 1750: Caughnawaga (Mohawk), Lake of the Two Mountains (Iroquois and Nipissing), St. Francois (Sokoki, Pennacook, and New England Algonquin, Becancour (Eastern Abenaki), Oswegatchie (Onondaga and Oneida), Lorette (Huron), and St. Regis (Mohawk).

Amaseconti (between upper Kennebec River and Androscoggin River, western Maine) Androscoggin (Amariscoggin, Ameriscoggin, Anasaguniticook, Arosaguntacook, Asschincantecook). Important note - Main village, on the river of the same name was called Arosaguntacook Town. Arosaguntacook is sometimes applied in error to the St. Francois Indians. Kennebec (Caniba, Sagadahoc, Kanibesinnoak, Norridgewock, Nurhantsuak) lived along the Kennebec River in northern Maine.

Penobscot (Pentagoet, Panaomeska). Meaning "rocky place," or "ledge place." Penobscot Tribe subdivisions and villages included: Moosehead Lake area tribes were known as "Moosehead Lake Indians." Villages: Agguncia, Asnela, Catawamtek, Kenduskeag, Mattawamkeag, Meecombe, Negas, Olamon, Oldtown, Passadumkeag, Pentagouet, Precaute, Segocket, and Wabigganus. Pigwacket (Pegouakki, Peguaki, Pequawket). Main village called Pequawket Town was located on the upper Saco River. Rocameca Upper Androscoggin River. Wewenoc (Ouanwinak, Sheepscot, Wawenock, Wawnock) Coastal areas of southern Maine. Wolinak (Becancour) Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.

Amaseconti (Amesokanti, Anmissoukanti), Norridgewock (Naridgewalk, Neridgewok, Noronjawoke), Kennebec, and Sagadahoc.

Ossipee: located on a lake of the same name in east-central New Hampshire. Other names associated with the eastern Abenaki are Arsikantegou, Kwupahag (Kwapahag).

Closer in language and culture to the Micmac, the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy have been listed as Abenaki for historical reasons. The French usually referred to both tribes as the Etchemin. Maliseet (Aroostook, Malecite, Malicite, St. John's Indians). From the Micmac word "malisit" meaning "broken talker." Their own name "Wulastegniak" means "good river people." They were located along the St. John River in northeastern Maine and western New Brunswick. Devon, Kingsclear, Madawaska, Mary's, Medoctec (Medoktek, Meductic), Okpaak, Oromocto, St. Anne, St. Basile, The Brothers (Micmac), Tobique, Viger, and Woodstock.

Passamaquoddy (Machias Tribe, Opanango, Pesmokant, Quoddy, Scotuks, Scootuck, St. Croix Indians, Unchechauge, Unquechauge). The name means "pollock spearing place" with their villages were located on Passamaquoddy Bay, the St. Croix River, and Schoodic Lake. Villages: Gunasquamekook, Imnarkuan, Machias, Sebaik, and Sipayik. There were other towns at Lewis Island and Calais in Maine with a few locations on the Canadian side of the St. Croix River.

Originally composed of Abenaki tribes in Vermont and New Hampshire west of the White Mountains, Sokoki means "people who separated." Various forms of Sokoki are: Assokwekik, Ondeake, Onejagese, Sakukia, Sokokiois, Sokoquios, Sokoquis, Sokokquis, Sokoni, Sokwaki, Soquachjck, and Zooquagese. Some accounts include groups of the western Pennacook as Sokoki: Amoskeag, Naamkeek, Nashaway, Souheyan, and Winnipesaukee.

Sokoki is often confused with the Saco, a name given to eastern Abenaki who lived near the Saco River (a combination of Pigwacket, Kennebec, and Androscoggin). Cowasuck (Cahass, Cohassiac, Coos, Coosuc, Koes). Hoosac was a mixed settlement with the Mahican. Missisquoi (Mazipskoik, Misiskuoi, Missiassik, Missique, Missisco) means "place of flint." It was located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. Schaghticoke. Mixed Mahican and New England Algonquin on the Hudson River north of Albany, New York. Squakheag (Squaeg, Squawkeag). Mixed population and probably at various times was occupied by any of these tribes.

Aquadocta, Cobbosseecontee, Ebenecook, Ketangheanycke, Mascoma, Masherosqueck, Mecadacut, Moshoquen, Muscongus, Negusset, Ossaghrage, Ouwerage, Pasharanack, Pauhuntanuc, Pemaquid, Pocopassum, Sabino, Sagadahoc, Satquin, Segotago, Sowocatuck, Taconnet, Unyjaware, and Wacoogo. ...end of section needing more work-->

The development of tourism projects has allowed the Canadian Abenaki to develop a modern economy while preserving their culture and traditions. For example, since 1960, the Odanak Historical Society has managed the first and one of the largest aboriginal museums in Quebec, a few miles from the Quebec-Montreal axis. Over 5,000 people visit the Abenaki Museum annually. Several Abenaki companies include: in Wôlinak, General Fiberglass Engineering employs a dozen natives, with annual sales of more than $3 million Canadian dollars. Odanak is now active in transportation and distribution. Notable Abenaki from this area include the documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin (National Film Board of Canada).[15]

These two tribes are officially listed federally recognized as tribes in the United States.[16] The Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine was recognized by the federal courts as a tribe, but not having a land trust with the government[17] since never entering into a formal treaty. This launched the very long legal battle that paved the way for many other tribes across America to file suits regarding asset mismanagement. After winning the landmark case, similar cases were filed in 2006 by 60 tribes from throughout the United States. Among the Passamaquoddy's assets was $13.5 million in federal funds that were allocated to the tribe in 1980 through the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, which was settled for $81.5 million.[18]

Many Abenaki living in Vermont have been assimilated, and only small remnants remained on reservations during and after the French and Indian War.[19] Facing annihilation, many Abenaki had begun emigrating to Canada, then under French control, around 1669. The Abenaki who chose to remain in the United States did not fare as well as their Canadian counterparts.

The Sokoki-St. Francis Band of the Abenaki Nation organized a tribal council in 1976 at Swanton, Vermont. Vermont granted recognition of the council the same year, but later withdrew it. In 1982, the band applied for federal recognition, which is still pending. Four Abenaki communities are located in Vermont. In 2006, the state of Vermont officially recognized the Abenaki as a people, but not a tribe. The Vermont Elnu (Jamaica) and Nulhegan (Brownington) bands' applications for official recognition were recommended and referred to the Vermont General Assembly by the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs on January 19, 2011, as a result of a process established by the Vermont legislature in 2010. Recognition allows applicants to seek scholarship funds reserved for American Indians and to receive federal "native made" designation for the bands' arts and crafts.[20] On May 7, 2012, the Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi and the Koasek of the Koas Abenaki Traditional Band received recognition by the State of Vermont.

In New Hampshire the Abenaki, along with other Native American groups, have proposed legislation for recognition as a minority group. This bill was debated in 2010 in the state legislature. The bill would have created a state commission on Native American relations, which would act as an advisory group to the governor and the state government in general.[21] The Abenaki want to gain formal state recognition as a people.

Opponents of the bill feared it could lead to Abenaki land claims for property now owned and occupied by European Americans. Others worried that the Abenaki may use recognition as a step toward opening a casino. But the bill specifically says that "this act shall not be interpreted to provide any Native American or Abenaki person with any other special rights or privileges that the state does not confer on or grant to other state residents." New Hampshire has considered expanding gambling separate from the Native Americans.[22]

The council would be under the Department of Cultural Resources,[21] so it would be in the same department as the State Council on the Arts. The bill would allow for the creation and sale of goods to be labeled as native-made to create a source of income for the natives in New Hampshire.

The numerous groups of natives in the state have created a New Hampshire Inter-tribal Council, which holds statewide meetings and powwows. Dedicated to preserving the culture of the natives in New Hampshire, the group is one of the chief supporters of the HB 1610; the Abenaki, the main tribe in the state, are the only people named specifically in the bill.[23]

• [a] is a low back unrounded vowel; before /m/ in a final syllable it becomes close to [u] in English 'goose'[5]
• [ə] is a mid-central unrounded vowel; normally pronounced like in the English word 'label'; occurs only in the middle of a word between consonants, except for three words––enni 'which', enna 'who' and enigakw 'a spear'––[e] in these words is pronounced like in the English word 'end'.[5]
• [i] is a lower-high front vowel; normally pronounced between the English words 'peat' and 'pit', it varies between the high front tense vowel [i] and the mid front lax vowel [e].[6][5]
• [o] is a higher mid-back vowel pronounced like in the English word 'poke', however some speakers pronounce it like [ʊ].[5]
• [ɔ̃] is a rounded nasalized vowel and is sometimes written as ⟨ô⟩ or simply as “8”.[6][39]
• Historically, it was common for speakers to drop h between vowels and to drop w before the nasal vowel [ɔ̃].[5]

Both the Eastern and Western dialects of Abenaki have 18 consonant sounds in total.[6][40]

• In Western Abenaki there is a distinction between fortis consonants (always voiceless and aspirated) represented as [p, t, k, s, ts], and lenis consonants (voiced between resonants, voiceless in word-initial and word-final positions and before a fortis consonant, unaspirated but become aspirated when they close a strongly accented syllable, which includes all final syllables) represented as [b, d, g, z, dz].[6][5] The lenis consonants generally exist between vowels and at the end of words but rarely next to each other or at the beginning of words.[5]
• [b] is a lax bilabial stop; between [a, e, i, o, j, m, n, l] it is voiced and pronounced like in the English word 'habit'; beginning a word it is voiceless and pronounced like a weak English /p/ but unaspirated; at the end of a word it is voiceless and made long by the stress assigned on the final syllable.[5]
• [ts] is a tense apico-alveolar affricate that's voiceless in all positions and pronounced by most speakers like /ts/ in English 'hats'.[5]
• [d] is a lax apico-alveolar stop that is voiced between resonants and pronounced like in English word 'body'; at the start of a word it is voiceless and pronounced that a weak English /t/ but unaspirated; at the end of a word is it voiceless and made long and tense by the stress assigned on the final syllable, pronounced like in English 'hit'.[5]
• [g] is a lax velar stop; between resonants is it pronounced like in English 'ago'; beginning a word it is pronounced like a weak unaspirated /k/; at the end of a word it is voiceless and made long and tense by the stress assigned on the final syllable, pronounced like /k/ in 'score'.[5]
• [h] occurs only before a vowel or /l/ and is pronounced like in English word 'heel', 'hat', or 'hit'; lax consonants before it become voiceless; when is it between vowels it is usually dropped by speakers in most words.[5]
• [dz] is an apico-alveolar affricate pronounced between resonants like the /dz/ in English word 'adze'; at the start of a word it is pronounced like /ts/ in the English word 'lets'; at the end of a word it is pronounced like the /ts/ in 'hats'.[5]
• [k] is a tense, dorso-velar stop, long, voiceless and unaspirated in all positions and pronounced like /k/ in English word 'score'.[5]
• [l] is a lateral sonorant; it is pronounced with a lot of tongue tension and is influenced by the vowel which follows it, or, in syllable-final position, by the vowel that precedes it.[5]
• [m] is a bilabial nasal sonorant pronounced in all positions like English /m/.[5]
• [n] is an apico-alveolar sonorant pronounced in all positions like English /n/.[5]
• [p] is a bilabial stop, tense, voiceless, unaspirated, and long in all positions; it's similar to the combined sounds of a /p/ ending a word and beginning the next, like in 'stop payment'.[5]
• [s] is a tense alveolar fricative that is always voiceless and long, much like the English /s/ in all positions.[5]
• [t] is a tense apico-alveolar stop that is always voiceless and long, longer than the English /t/, similarly to the Western Abenaki [p].
• [w] is a mid-back rounded non-syllabic with a similar sound to [o]; occurs before or after a vowel; at the end of a word after /k/ or /g/ it becomes a voiceless fricative.[5]
• [y] is a high front non-syllabic with a similar sound to [i] but is pronounced before a vowel with greater tongue tension than [i].[5]
• [z] is a lax alveolar fricative that is voiced, and between resonants is pronounced like English /z/; voiceless when it's at the beginning of a word, both voiceless and long when it's at the end of a word.[5]

It's important to note that historically Western Abenaki speakers varied in the ways they pronounced the alveolar affricate phonemes /ts/ and /dz/. More than half of the population pronounced ⟨c⟩ like /ts/ and ⟨j⟩ like /dz/ and the rest pronounced ⟨c⟩ like /ʃ/ and ⟨j⟩ like /ʒ/.[5]

There isn't one Western Abenaki orthography that is generally accepted by linguists or Abenaki speakers, but speakers typically do understand the orthographies of Joseph Laurent and Henry Lorne Masta––Western Abenaki writers who taught the language at Odanak.[5]

Masta and Laurent's orthographies.[6]

Stress within words in Western Abenaki is based on an alternating stress rule:

• Stress is initially assigned to the final syllable and then to every other syllable from right to left.[6][41] Yet this assignment skips the vowel /ə/ and falls to the next syllable, even if the nucleus of that syllable is also /ə/.[6] In fact, the presence of the unstressed /ə/ results instead in a lengthening of the preceding consonant and the vowel is often deleted in writing and rapid speech.[41][5]
• Personal prefixes ne-, ke-, we- are not stressed, thus in words containing these prefixes, the stress shift with not occur on the syllable to the right.[41]

As of 2004, linguists are unsure if a minimum syllable count is present in order for a word to be stressed.[6]

Stress within sentences:[42]

• In a declarative sentence, the pitch goes from high-low.
• Questions have a low-high pitch at the end of the sentence, yet the entire sentence is generally said with a higher pitch.
• Stressed syllables that exist in the middle of a sentence tend to be pronounced at a standard pitch level.

When a word is pronounced on its own, its stressed final syllable is typically high pitched. However, this is not necessarily characteristic of the specific word, because as stated above, declarative sentences end on a low pitch.[42]

Like all Algonquin languages, the animacy of nouns is important to distinguish in Western Abenaki. Animate nouns refer to animals, people, and other living or powerful things. Inanimate nouns refer to lifeless things. This is necessary to know because the animacy of a noun plays a large role in what form the endings of other words connected to them will take. However, some classifications are arbitrary. For example, the word zegweskimen 'raspberry' is animate while the word zata 'blueberry' is inanimate. So the animacy of certain nouns must be learned individually.[39]

The plural suffixes of both noun forms:

• Animate: -ak / -ik / -ok / -k
• Inanimate: -al / -il / -ol / -l

Each suffix is used according to the final sound of the noun––

• -ik after d/t and the d/t change to j
• -il after g/k
• -ok -ol after -gw -kw and the w drops (sometimes words ending in m or n too)
• -ak -al after other consonants, and after the vowels o/i
• -k -l after other vowels: a/ô

There are a few exceptions to these rules that have to be learned individually.

In most sentences of Western Abenaki, pronouns are not expressed as separate words but as affixes attached to other words. However, separate words are sometimes used to emphasize the pronoun in use.[39]

The first person plural exclusive and inclusive pronouns are very important distinctions in Western Abenaki. The inclusive form means you are including the person you are talking to in the "we" or "us". While the exclusive form means you are excluding them from the "we" or "us".

The form of the possessive pronoun affix you must use depends on the sound it's supposed to attach to. The forms nd- / kd- / wd- are used if the word begins with a vowel. The w- forms become o- in front of consonants. If a k- form needs to be attached to a word that begins with 'g' or 'k' they fuse into a single 'k' as the prefix. Possessive pronoun prefixes are written with an apostrophe before the word (as shown in examples below)

It's important to note that /w/ is pronounced as /o/ when it appears at the beginning or end of a word before a consonant or between two consonants. It is sometimes written as 'o' in these situations and is still considered a consonant.

Examples of the possessive pronoun affixes on an animate and inanimate noun:

–Possessed animate noun 'cow':

n'kaozem `my cow'

k'kaozem `thy cow'

w'kaozema `his cow'

n'kaozemna `our cow' [excl]

k'kaozemna `our cow' [incl]

k'kaozemwô `your cow'

w'kaozemwô `their cow'

–Possessed inanimate noun 'gun':

n'paskhigan `my gun'

k'paskhigan `thy gun'

w'paskhigan `his gun'

n'paskhiganna `our gun' [excl]

k'paskhiganna `our gun' [incl]

k'paskiganowô `your gun'

w'paskhiganowô `their gun'

Two main verb distinctions in Western Abenaki are intransitive verbs and transitive verbs.

• Intransitive verbs only need one participant that is doing the action or has the quality, such as ‘to run’, ‘to jump’, ’to be angry’. Western Abenaki examples are abi ’to sit’ and aloka ‘to work’.
• Transitive verbs need two participants––one doing the action (subject) and one being acted on (object), such as ‘to hit’, ‘to see’, ‘to love’. Western Abenaki examples are namiha ‘to see’ and wawtam ‘to understand something’.

In thinking about these two verb types along with Western Abenaki’s distinction between animate and inanimate things, this results in a split of four different types of verbs in Western Abenaki (which is true of all Algonquian languages)

• Animate intransitive: verbs that apply to an animate subject––nd’abi ‘I sit’, kd’aloka-ji ‘you will work’
• Inanimate intransitive: verbs that apply to an inanimate subject––wligen ‘it is good’, gezabeda ‘it is hot’
• Transitive animate: verbs that apply to an animate object––n’namiô ‘I see him/her’, giktawa ‘to listen to someone’
• Transitive inanimate: verbs that apply to an inanimate object––agida ‘to read’, miji ‘to eat’

There are seven morphological processes in Western Abenaki. These processes are used to describe the changes to affixes that occur when they are combined in different ways.[6]

• Vowel truncation –– the initial vowel of a suffix is deleted when it follows a vowel. The only exception is -wi followed by peripheral formatives, here the initial vowel of the suffix is not deleted.  
• Final glide delegation –– suffix-final glide w is deleted after a vowel when the suffix is word-final.
• Vocalization –– glide w changes to a vowel o when the glide becomes the nucleus of a syllable due to affixation.
• Coalescence of aw+e –– the combination of aw+e results in a single vowel o or 8.
• Coalescence of aw+a –– the preterit -ob is created from the combination of aw+ab(ani).
• Coalescence of a+a –– long /a:/ becomes nasalized ɔ̃ in some instances such as -ba+ab(ani).
• Coalescence of wV –– w coalescence that explains why the plural peripheral formative -ak occasionally becomes -ok.

Enclitic particles function in a syntactically interesting way. In Western Abenaki, there are ten enclitic particles.[42]

These are also known as 'second-position' clitics because they come after the first word within the complementizer phrase or inflectional phrase.[42] However, clitics don’t always simply follow the first word of a sentence. Clitics can also attach to clause-initial conjunctions, such as tta ‘and’, ni ‘and then’, and ala ‘or’ or to the word that follows the conjunction.[42] A focused noun phrase sometimes appears between a conjunction and the word that could potentially host the clitic, in this case the clitic won’t be attached to the conjunction, but to the word after the noun phrase.[42] In general, though they may typically exist in the second word of the sentence, clitics are mainly clause dependent, and are situated according to what clauses are functioning in a sentence and where, according to conjunctions.[42]