Merrimack Valley has a very long history, stretching back thousands of years before colonization. Various indigenous peoples such as Musketaquid, Nashawtuc, Nashoba, Squaw, and Sachem had lived in the Merrimack Valley and even stretched beyond it to the whole of New England. As the Concord museum points out, “It’s impossible to say conclusively, because tribal territories had porous boundaries, unlike the hard lines drawn by the English settlers.”
But we do know that previously one tribe in particular lived within the Merrimack Valley and traveled using the Merrimack River: The Abenaki.
The Past
“The area now defined by Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and northern Massachusetts was home to the Abenaki,” as discussed in this article called The People of the Merrimack Valley by Dana Benner. The Abenaki, or the Alnobak as they were known then, had grown into different confederacies based on their location through the area. In the Greater Merrimack Valley area there were specifically:
“The “Eastern Abenaki” lived east of the White Mountains, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and into Maritime Canada. Going west from the White Mountains, all the way to Lake Champlain, and then north into parts of Quebec and south to western Massachusetts, were the “Western Abenaki.” In the middle, in the Merrimack Valley what is now Concord, N.H. Today they are known as the Penacook. The land of the Penacook ran from south and central New Hampshire, east to southern Maine and then south to northeastern Massachusetts,” (Benner).
The Penacook had lived and traveled along the Merrimack river for years. Without the indigenous people of the area, the groups of Europeans who arrived in the Merrimack wouldn’t have been able to survive, especially during the harsh winters. It was not until the 1620s when European colonizers fully interrupted the flow of life for the Penacook and the other Abenaki confederacies due to disease.
“Another wave of smallpox began in 1639. This was followed by influenza in 1647, smallpox in 1649 and diphtheria in 1659. It is estimated that the Penacook population in 1675 was down to about 1,200. By 1676, because of disease and military conflict with the English, the Penacook were forced to abandon the Lower Merrimack Valley,” (Benner).
Unfortunately, this displacement continued until the Penacook were forced to leave and be displaced or forced into assimilating into the colonies created by the Europeans.
Today
The Penacook as they once were remerged with the Abenaki, but thankfully members of the Penacook and broader Abenaki people were able to survive.
Modern American Abenaki culture is ethnically distinctive and composed of many ancestral regional traditions. These range from the modest, little-known “keeping fish eyes warm under the tongue while ice fishing” culture trait; to growing twelve unique regional varieties of corn, beans, and squash; to the socially and spiritually complex Forgiveness Day and Harvest rituals. American Abenakis have received freely given traditional knowledge from friends in neighboring communities.
The Abenaki Nation is still here and their tribal land is located in Vermont. It is important to remember that the ethnocide that took place in the past still exists in various forms today. While murderous attacks and threats aren’t wide spread like the colonizers of yesteryear, the killing of culture continues through blatant erasure to legislation that infringes upon their rights.
This Indigenous Peoples Month (and every month), it is important to remember, acknowledge and do better for the Indigenous people throughout the US and especially those in our community.
Next Steps
One way to begin that process is by learning more:
Recommended Abenaki Resources for Native American Heritage Month created by the Abenaki Trials Project team
These resources range from partnered websites, children’s literature, language resources, to available curriculum and lesson plans.
The goal of this project is to visibly honor and share a more inclusive history of the Abenaki people, to highlight historical Abenaki sites and to accentuate the positive influences we have had with Colonial America and the towns we continue to live in today.
Native American Trail in the Greater Merrimack Valley
This guide will help you explore Native American History in various towns across the Merrimack Valley.
