#passamaquoddy

[paulpingminho]

[allethnicities]

Ethnonyms: Peskotomuhkatiyik, Passamaquoddy, Etchemin, Wabanaki (People of the Dawnland), Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet)

Total Population: 3,575

Ethnolinguistic Classification: Algic > Algonquian > Eastern Algonquian

Homeland: Peskotomuhkatik

Regions with Significant Populations: St. Croix River Watershed (Schoodic River), Passamaquoddy Bay, Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine, Washington County, Maine, New Brunswick, Sipayik (Pleasant Point), Motahkomikuk (Indian Township), Qonasqamkuk

Languages and Dialects: Passamaquoddy, Maliseet (Wolastoqey)

Religion: Christianity, Roman Catholic, Traditional Spiritual Beliefs

The Passamaquoddy, who refer to themselves in their native tongue as the Peskotomuhkatiyik (meaning "people of the pollock-spearing place"), are an Indigenous nation with a deep, ancestral connection to the coastal and riverine environments of eastern Maine and southwestern New Brunswick. With archaeological evidence of habitation in this region spanning over 10,000 years, they are a fundamental component of the Wabanaki Confederacy, an enduring alliance that also includes the Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, and Penobscot peoples. Historically, the Passamaquoddy maintained a semi-nomadic, kin-based social structure defined by seasonal migrations and a sophisticated, sustainable reliance on hunting, fishing, and gathering—practices reflected in their very name and identity. During the early colonial period, they navigated the arrival of Europeans by forming strategic alliances, particularly with the French, which were characterized by trade, intermarriage, and the adoption of Catholicism, though they also faced the devastating impacts of disease, territorial encroachment, and shifting geopolitical boundaries. Politically, the tribe is known for its resilience in the face of centuries of displacement; after ceding significant land in 1794, they persisted through periods of legal and social struggle until the late 20th century, when they successfully pursued major land claims and achieved U.S. federal recognition in 1980. Today, the majority of the enrolled population resides on two federally recognized reservations in Washington County, Maine: Sipayik (Pleasant Point) and Motahkokmikuk (Indian Township), while a separate community in Canada, the Peskotomuhkati, continues to seek sovereign recognition. Despite the existential challenges posed by high poverty rates and the status of their language—a dialect of the Passamaquoddy-Maliseet continuum—as endangered, the nation is actively engaged in robust cultural and linguistic revitalization, utilizing digital archives, immersion programs, and land stewardship of over 200,000 acres to preserve their heritage for future generations.

[finlaure13]

KOLUSKAP NAKA WOCAWSON

Skicinuwok wolamsotomoniyal kci sipsol. ’Toliwiyawal Wocawson, nuci putuwet. Tolawsu pihcetu lahtoqehsonuk. Nit epit kci ponapskuk, mehtaluktek. Tan etuci macilqenuwit, nit tehc petson.

Neket Koluskap mec yali wiciyemat skitapiyi, puskiw na nekom mace suku ’tulok. Sipsuhke.

Neqt neke ehtahsikiskahkil wocawson, wisokolamson. Ahaciw pomolamson, kospon te peciwehse naka petamoqessu. Kotama Koluskap kisi yali sukiw. ’Titomon, “Wocawson, wot kci sips etolawsit lahtoqehsonuk, not nit elluhket.”

’Qiluwahan. Komac pihcetu oliye, on yaka moskuwan. ’Totoli mskuwal epilit kci ponapskuk, wapeyit kci sips. ’Tiyan, “Muhsumi, kotama kotomakitahamawiyik qenossok? Kil nit kisihtuwon mecokiskahk, wecawsok, eliwehsek. Kusami macehlak kunoskiyik.”

Neketok kci sips oli ikotohom. “Yut ntihinehpon wisoki nihkaniw. Pihce kiskul, mesq we etolewestuhk, nil te amsqahs nutaqsiyanpon. Nil te na amsqahs macehlukpon nunoskiyik. Mecime tech na nmacehlak tan eli wolitahatom.”

Nit etuci Koluskap wonakessit. Etutsonit, petkil ote aluhkihkuk. ’Toli wihqehlal yuhtol kci sipsol tahalu tehp motehehsim. ’Kolonomuwan toqiw wonoski, naka ’poneqahkan eli psikapskiyak nisonul kci ponapskul. Nit te na etoli nokolat.

Nit neke ’cimaciw, skicinuwok yaliyawolotuwok, ’kekiw tehc. Mecime woluwipon, kakehsukoniw, kakehs pemoluhkemkil, naka kisuhsok, kospon te neke ’samaqan tukcokiyak. Etuci paqtek, Koluskap kotama ’kisitahapiyatomuwon ’tul.

On nit te mihqitahaman kci sipsol, on macahan, naci nomiyan apc. Eli te nokolatpon, nit te apc eli mskuwal, Wocawson ipocol askomawsu. ’Teweponan, ’punan apc ponapskuk, naka ’tapqehtuwan peskuwol wonoskiyil. Neke ’cimaciw kotama tutolamsonihkew tahalu pihce.

Mettokot.

(From a version written down in Maliseet-Passamaquoddy about 1900.)

GLOOSCAP AND IT-IS-WINDY

The Indiginous believe in a great bird. They name him It-Is-Windy, the one who blows. He lives far away in the north. There he sits on a great rock, where the clouds end. Whenever he moves his wings, then the wind comes up.

At the time when Glooscap (GLOOS-kahb) still went around among men, frequently he too went paddling in his canoe. He hunted birds.

Once, long ago, it was windy every day; the wind blew strongly. It went on blowing more and more, until at least it gusted and a storm came up. Glooscap could not paddle about. He said, “It-Is-Windy, the great bird who lives in the north, he is the one doing this.”

He searched for him. Very far away he went, and then he found him. He found him sitting there on the great rock, a great white bird. He said to him, “Grandfather, do you not pity your grandchildren? You are the one who is making bad weather, windiness, gusting. You move your wings too much.”

In spite of [these words] the great bird went on yawning. “I was here at the very beginning. In distant days before anyone was speaking, I was the first one heard. It was I who first moved my wings. And I will always move them as I please.”

Then, at that point, Glooscap got up. He was so powerful, he grew up to the clouds. He picked up this great bird as if he were a duck. He held him by both of his wings, and he threw him down where there was a crack between two rocks. And that is where he left him.

From that time on, the Indiginous went about, all day long. It was always calm, for many days, for many weeks and months, until at least, at that time, the water became foamy from stagnation. It was so thick that Glooscap could not steer his canoe.

And then he remembered the great bird, and he went off, to go see him again. Right where he had left him, that was where he found him again, because It-Is-Windy lives forever. He lifted him up, put him on the rock again, and opened one of his wings. Ever since that time, it has not been as windy as long ago.

It [the story] ends.

(Translated sentence-by-sentence from the Maliseet-Passamaquoddy)

[lets-talk-story]

The Chenoo With An Icy Heart pt. 2

Part 1

   Chenoo was now part of the family, and would go out hunting. He and the husband often went out to hunt giant beasts of legends. If it started to get dark while they were still a long way from home, Chenoo would give the husband a piggy back ride and run the rest of the way home. That way the hunter’s wife never had to worry about her family being safe.   However one day, Chenoo sensed his wife approaching. He was sure she would be angry about his change back into a human. She would with fight him and surely tear him apart, as Chenoo was no longer strong enough to defeat her. He asked his daughter-in-law to bring him the bag he had brought with him. She was to look inside, and if what she saw displeased her- she was to throw it away and instead bring the smaller bag inside it.    The hunter's wife got the back, and saw inside was human remains. If Chenoo ate them again, he would return to being a full Chenoo, and all the strength and horror that involved. Instead the woman threw them away, and brought the smaller bag. Inside this bag was a horn from a horned serpent. Chenoo gave the horn to his son-in-law; and told him to wait for he called for help. If everything worked out right, this might just save Chenoo’s life.

   The couple hid, as the Chenoo wife approached. She was fierce and violent, and shouted horrible threats- then the two battled. Mountains tumbled, forests were knocked down as the two wrestled. Chenoo cried for help; and his son-in-law jumped into the fray. He was ordered to stab the serpent horn into her ear. When he did so, it magically grew- sprouting out the other side of her head, embedding itself into the ground.    The now dead Chenoo woman had to be hacked into smaller pieces- a difficult task as Chenoo bones are stronger than hard wood. Each piece had to be burned to ash, less the flesh turn into a new Chenoo. The last piece was the heart, which was made of the hardest of ice. They had to carefully chip the pieces until they could melt the whole thing. It was a long task, but they finished by the time spring rolled around.    The couple decided it was time to return to their tribe in the Southeast. They made themselves a canoe out of birch bark, and Chenoo a canoe out of moose skins. Chenoo always took the lead; this gave him time to prepare a place for them all to spend the night.    However the further they got, the weaker Chenoo became. He shrank in size, and slowly turned back into a regular sized old man. By the time they reached the tribe, all of Chenoo's old wounds had healed, but he was terribly sick. Part of him was still a creature of the Northern ice, and the warmth of the South was killing him- though he refused to return to the way he had been. As he died, he thanked his daughter-in-law. The last bit of cold left him as a grateful tear drop. His passing was honored, no different than an honored elder of the tribe.

The End

Notes: The only thing I changed was the ending, where a black robe taught Chenoo about religion and saved his soul. It didn’t feel right. The ending I did is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen. It was the only way I could think of depiction how the kindness the couple showed warmed his heart to the point that he completely returned to being human by the end.

[electronicgallery]

“Large Turquoise Urchin Basket” by Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy, b 1978, Indian Township, Maine), 2019, brown ash and sweetgrass, overall: 5¼ by 11½ inches diameter. Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund.

[littlefeather-wolf]

Native American Father And Son Passamaquoddy

Portrait of Francis Elmanico and Benjamin Elmanico, Passamaquoddy, Both in Native Dress - Gill - MAY 1913

The Passamaquoddy (Peskotomuhkati or Pestomuhkati in the Passamaquoddy language) are an American Indian and First Nations people who live in northeastern North America.

[outofcontextstuff]

[thebigkelu]

Portrait of Francis Elmanico and Benjamin Elmanico, Passamaquoddy, Both in Native Dress - Gill - MAY 1913

The Passamaquoddy (Peskotomuhkati or Pestomuhkati in the Passamaquoddy language) are an American Indian and First Nations people who live in northeastern North America.