Contrary to what you have been led to believe, New Hampshire’s history did NOT begin
Passaconaway, the Bashaba from “Passaconaway in the White Mountains,” by Charles Edward Beals Jr., Boston, 1916, Richard G. Badger Printer.
with the arrival of the European settlers, and all of New Hampshire’s Native People were not killed by disease and war.
Before most of our ancestors arrived, New Hampshire’s indigenous people, sometimes called the American Indian, had lived here for about 10,000 years, or 400 generations.
In the short span of one hundred seventy-six years (from 1500 to 1676) following the arrival of European explorers, the number of New Hampshire’s native people decreased by approximately seventy-five percent. By the mid-1700s, 90% of the original native inhabitants were no longer in New Hampshire. Many died from European host-delivered diseases and wars, some were enslaved, and some moved on to other places. Still others “disappeared” by marrying into local non-native families. By the time of the American Revolution, less than 1,000 Abenaki remained. The Native People of New Hampshire persisted, despite great adversity. [A more detailed history can be found here].
Two Native American bands, originally living in the New Hampshire region, were the Abenaki and the Western Pennacook. Words such as Amoskeag, Coos, Kancamagus, Merrimack, Nashua (Nashaway), Piscataqua, Souhegan, Winipesaukee — have a familiar ring to most New Hampshirites. They are all names bestowed on our landmarks by these native groups, who knew them first.
During the 1700s they became caught in a political vise between English and French interests. They never ceded or sold any of their territory, but they were still pushed aside, and forced to assimilate (hide), or to move (such as to Vermont and Canada). In Vermont, where many of the Abenaki and Western Pennacook band members had settled, they became victims of a horrifying “eugenics program” during the 1920s and 1930s.
New Hampshire’s older history books are full of stories about “Indians.” Did you ever notice that these stories fall into one of two scenarios? In the first, the “bad” Indians are on the rampage, killing or capturing the “good” European colonists. In the second, the “good” Indian helps the local European colonists in some way, but usually ends up dying as a result (by leaping off a cliff, or drowning, or being killed by rival Indians). The stories of history through the native people’s eyes are rarely told.
–ABENAKI & PENNACOOK OF TODAY–
The Abenaki (meaning “people of the dawn”), resided in what is now a portion of Coos, and Grafton counties, in New Hampshire, and the Western Pennacook (“place of falling rock”) villages were located in the southern and central Merrimack River Valley of New Hampshire.
One source states that the Abenaki population has currently recovered to almost 12,000. Although at least 800 known families reside in New Hampshire, it is impossible to determine their actual number. The 2000 U.S. Census shows about 2620 New Hampshire residents who stated that they were of American Indian or Alaskan native origin. That is 0.2% of New Hampshire’s population. In comparison, foreign born (outside of the United States) residents in New Hampshire make up 4.4% of the population.
Ask some of the band about their genealogy, and they are apt to say, “I am an American.” The Abenaki and Western Pennacook groups are not a federally recognized “tribe,” nor do they appear to be seeking this status. “We know who we are, we don’t need governments to tell us who we are,” stated Charlie True, on an episode of NPR [Editor’s note: the original link to the NPR show was http://www.nhpr.org/node/5469 however the content of this has changed]. On the other hand, other closely related groups have filed for, and received recognition as a tribe. The Abenaki and Western Pennacook today, as they did thousands of years ago, form independent bands, and take different approaches to the same issue.
The land of New Hampshire is rich in fragile archaeological sites that often contain Native People’s artifacts and remains. Knowledge of these sites help members of the Abenaki-Pennacook groups to recapture an important part of their story. At the “Eddy Site,” at Amoskeag Falls in Manchester NH, some of the earliest dated ceramics in the eastern part of the United States have been found. If you believe you have “Indian bones” in your possession, or know of someone who does, the New Hampshire Archeology Society would like to hear from you. Notify a state archaeologist, who has a procedure to follow if it is discovered that they are human remains, so the origin can be determined.
Currently organized bands of American Indians with a presence in New Hampshire include the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People, Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire and First Nation of New Hampshire (they are all non-federally recognized Indian groups).
*Addendum, Sept. 4, 2006* and 1 February 2021: To the list of currently organized bands, I’ve added the Koasek (Cowasuck) Traditional Band Council Of the Sovereign Abenaki Nation. SEE THIS LIST for Native American Organizations in New Hampshire.
I am grateful to Paul Pouliot, Speaker for the People and Denise Mehigan of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People, in New Hampshire, who agreed to speak with me and answer some questions. I highly recommend that you visit their band’s web site to learn more. Their public statement of goals says it all. “There is a growing effort to bring history back into focus and to correct many misconceptions about the relationship of Native People, such as us, and the founding of the United States. We were not all killed off by disease or warfare and did not disappear with the colonization of this country. Many of us became the individual fibers of the weave that made the cloth of the United States and Canada. We are among you, working beside you in all walks of life. Unless we told you who we were, you would probably never know us. Any other ethnic or religious group in the world need only declare their existence. Only the American Indian is required to document genealogy to the beginning of time and blood quantum to show how much real “Indian” they are.”
Knowing the history of New Hampshire’s native people, is integral to understanding ourselves. For many, they may be us.
Janice
P.S., PLEASE READ my UPDATE to this article: Celebrating New Hampshire’s Native Americans II and my article about Passaconaway, and the early native people’s presence in New Hampshire.
**Links of Interest**
NHMagazine.com: Paths to New Hampshire’s Native Past
New Hampshire’s First Leader: Sagamore of the Penacook, Diplomat and Peacemaker: Passaconaway (c1580-c1673)
–Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People– | Cowasuck Band (on FaceBook)
Cowhampshire why is it called that it helps me for my 5th grade project though
Jeramiah, I’m really very happy if my blog helps you with your 5th grade project. I don’t get paid to write this blog, I do it because I LOVE HISTORY, especially that of New Hampshire. Another person asked me this week why my blog is called Cow Hampshire also. So I hope you will forgive me if I just repeat what I told them. “Cow Hampshire comes from an old joke about the times when supposedly there were more cows than people in New Hampshire. Honestly, I don’t think there ever really was a time when that quota existed, but people believed it. Perception is sometimes more important than reality. And so that leads me into New Hampshire’s history, and that our perception of our history can be very different from the reality.” I hope that if you learn anything is that not to completely trust what is written in the history books, because it is always someone’s version or idea of history, rather than often what is fact.
I’m going back through all our old annual reports and there were times when cows out numbered people and fowl always out numbered people
JANICE WHERE AND WHEN ARE ARE THE POW WO DONE IN THSI STATE.
Janice, how can I find someone from one of the tribes to come speak at my Grandsons birthday this sunday (short notice I know) He is so interested in the Native American. It is the theme of his 6 yo party and would be a great way to learn about a real people that inhabited NH before our ancestors.
I found your blog very informative from what I have been trying to find the true stories of the first peoples of this country, I find it very sad, how a race once living in perfect harmony with nature and its elements, were so badly treated, but tides turn and I hope the future hold promise for the native peoples, I think history classes in America should include more of the true massacres that went on in this country, such as Deerfield ect.
I was fortunate to be able to attend the pow wow at mt kearsage nh and visit its informative museum in my visit to the area, I am from Australia, and we now have a better understanding of our past and are finally respecting and valuing our first peoples
thank you once again, for your post
Suzanne Thompson
How can you be sure it is true?
thank you so much for the info its helped me so much
I was born in Concord and from an early age was told that my father, whom I have no contact with, was part Native American. I assume Abenaki. How can I find out more about this? Are there any resources?
Adam, researching Abenaki ancestry is not going to be an easy task. Your first step might be to contact this group.
http://www.abenakitribe.org/ You could also do a DNA study to see if your DNA shows native American ancestry, though the DNA report can be incorrect for a variety of reasons. Hoping this helps.
My grandfather, George Reed, was born in New Market NH in 1872. His mother’s name was Champlain, Native American. My DNA says I’m 16% Native American. I’m told that Native Americans took popular names, i.e. Champlain to become Americanized. Is that the case? I know very little about my native ancestry; am proud of it, and would like to know more. Can anyone add to what little I know? Much appreciated. Best, Bill Ekasala
William, Isn’t it exciting these days with DNA helping us to learn about our ancestors? I can tell you that the marriage record of George Reed’s parents: Adolphus Reed and Mary Champagne is available online at https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLXR-2Q4
Interestingly on that document both Adolphus and Mary are listed as white. This means she either was non-Native OR looked non-Native. The document also details that she was born in Vermont, daughter of Lewis & Angelia Champagne. So there are a few more clues. Good luck with your research.
Thank you very much. I knew my great grandfather’s name was Adolphus, but I thought my great grandmother’s name was Champlain. I grew up in my granfather’s household in Braintree MA. He spoke to no one about his heritage, not even his children. I was with him in his last years; one evening he said to me ” did you know my mother was an Indian?” I was a teenager and did’nt think much about it; and later when I mentioned the comment to my uncles, they were surprised he told me that. Native American features passed by my grandfather, but my mother and my uncles could have played in cowboy/Indian movies. They were spot on Native Americans. My mother played “Oriental” in plays. As I got older I became interested in my native heritage. I appreciate your help.
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Hello in 2006 my mother took pictures of a rock that has a carving of a man on a sled. My daughter was 2 at the time. She didn’t make any traction contacting academics. I recently looked at the pictures again (without distraction of a 2 year old) and I am sure it is of Passaconaway and his mythic ascension. I think my mother saw it backwards. A section presumably with the wolves has broken off. I only have picture and assume the bolder is still on top of Mount Washington.
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