Androscoggin people

The Androscoggin (Arosaguntacook, etc., see names) were an Abenaki people from what are now the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire. By the 18th century, they were absorbed by neighboring tribes.

Arosaguntacook/Androscoggin territory, ca. early 17th century

Name

Arosaguntacook or Arossagunticook, the tribe's endonym, in the eastern Abenaki language means "Rocky Flats flow" or "a river of rocks refuge." Other recorded variations of the name are Amariscoggin, Ameriscoggin, Arsigantegok, Asschincantecook, and Alessikantek-eyak by the Penobscot and the Cowasuck. The name Arosaguntacook was probably changed by Massachusetts Governor Edmund Andros to Androscoggin. Today's Penobscot name for the Saint Francis Abenaki is Alessikantek-eyak because Arosaguntacook belonged to the ancestors of the people of Saint Francis.

Distribution

The Arosaguntacook once lived in the Androscoggin River watershed, located in present-day southern Maine and northern New Hampshire. Their main village was located in the vicinity of present-day Lewiston, Maine. Together with the Pigwacket, they formed the southernmost of the Abenaki tribes and were therefore one of the first in contact with the English colonists of New England.

History

17th century

In 1675, the Androscoggin took part in King Philip's War. The renowned hunter, trapper, fisherman and guide, Metallak (1727-1847), was a member of the Androscoggin tribe.

18th century

In 1725, the Androscoggin joined the Pequawket and migrated to the Connecticut River in Hampshire. The Arosaguntacook migrated north to Canada, where they settled in Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec.[1]

Maps

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

See also

Notes
  1. Hodge, Frederick Webb (1907). Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico: N-Z. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p. 229.

References

Further reading
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