1.Origin of the Maliseet
The tribe of Indians to which the name of Maliseet is at present restricted reside chiefly on the banks of the St. John River, in New Brunswick. At one time the local authorities supposed that these people were of Huron-Iroquois stock, but later investigation has shown that they are of the Algonquian family, as are all the tribes who are their immediate neighbours. We now know also that these St. John Indians were members of that nation or group of cognate tribes to whom the name Wapanaki was applied tribes that at the time they were discovered by the Europeans were in possession of the country between the St. John and the Connecticut-through Maine, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts, and whose warriors for more that a century kept the border settlements in constant terror.
The Wapanaki nation was originally composed of seven tribes, viz: Nipmuks, Sokokis, Assagunticooks, Wawanocks, Kenebeks, Penobseots, and Maliseets.That the Micmacs were not Wapanakis has been clearly established by comparison of the languages and the traditions, though the tribes lived on intimate friendly terms and Micmac braves were sometimes found among Wapanaki war parties.
Dr. Williamson, in his History of Maine, quotes a Ponobscot Indian statement that “all the Indians between the St. John and the Saco Rivers are brothers The eldest lives on the Saco, and each tribe is younger as we pass eastward. Always I could understand the brothers very well when they speak, but when the Micrnacs talk, I can't tell what they say.
”It is probable that the Wapanaki nation was founded by a band of Ojibwas who separated from the main tribe, traveled eastward and settled on the western slopes of the Adirondacks, from which they were driven by the Iroquois when those fierce and valorous warriors immigrated thither from the southwest. The Ojibwas retired eastward and the Connecticut river was fixed as the western limit of their territory
This band of Ojibwas were the progenitors of the large and powerful tribe which the Europeans found in control of the country between the Connecticut and the Piscataquis, including both banks of both rivers. This tribe was known to the early writers as the Nipmuks, though they are sometimes called Pennacooks, from the name of their principal encampment, Pennacook~ which was situated where Manchester, N.H. now stands and where resided their head chief Passaconnoway. The Mohegans or Mohicans were of the Wapanaki race but whether they are recognized as a separate tribe or were under Nipmuk government is not definitely known, though the weight of evidence favor the latter conclusion
The other tribes originated thus. First a band wandered off from the Nipmuk country and settled on the Saco, where they eventually organized an independent tribe- the Sakoki. Later a detachment from the Saco established a separate tribe on the banks of the Androscoggin, and from them sprang directly both the Wawenocks and the Kenebeks. The later in turn provided the nucleus for the Penobscot tribe and from the Penobscot camp went the braves who set up their wigwam on the banks of the St. John and became the founders of the people who we know now as the Maliseet.
Just when this separation took place is not known, but it must have been some time before they were discovered by the Europeans, for Champlain, Lescarbot, Captain John Smith and Cadillac who visited the river during the first decade of the seventeenth century, found large encampments at Meductik and Hekpahak, (Spring Hill), and the early writers mention that the Maliseets took a leading part in the affairs of the nation.
At whatever time the Maliseets entered New Brunswick, they were confronted on their entrance by the Micmacs. The tribe had come from the southwest - so their tradition states and finding the At1antic Shore, which they coveted, in possession of the Iroquois - cal1ed Kwedecks in some of the Micmac legends - drove these toward the St Lawrence, and established the Restigouche as the northern boundary of the Micmac territory.
The Micmacs seem to have permitted the Maliseets to secure the St. John without Opposition, reserving one village site at the mouth of the river. According to the traditions of both tribes, their people have rnaintained friendly relations ever since, though the Micmacs were inc1ined to be agressive1y combative and had several misunderstandings with the more western of the Wapanaki tribes which, according to the custom of their times, was referred to the arbitrate of the tomahawk.
In some of the earlier his stories there are slight and indefinite references to battles during the period between 1605 and 1615, in which Micmacs and Penobscots seem to have been at war with the Maliseets, but the rumors lack confirmation, and it is more than probable that some other tribes were engaged in these conflicts.
The Passamaquoddy Indians were not organized as an independent tribe at the time or the European occupation, and that is the reason why we do not find any reference to them as a tribe in the pages of early history.
The tribe is a mixture of Maliseet and Penobscot, and originated thus: A Maliseet man, so the tradition runs, rnarried a woman of the Penobscots and built a wigwam at the mouth of the St. Croix. The pair was joined by other Maliseets and by parties of Penobseots from Machias, Mattawainkeag and the Penobscot River. The band thus formed continued to hold allegiance to the Maliseet tribe until sometime after the advent of the whites. It was not until the Penobscots finally deserted Machias and most of the families moved to St. Croix that the band, thus augmented, elected a chief of its own and set up a tribal establishment. The inaugural of this chief was conducted by leading men of the Maliseet, Penobscot and St. Francis tribes.
Of these tribes, numbering according to the estimate made by Wiliamson and others, at some 36,000 at the time of the European invasion, there are at the present time but small bands, numbering in all something less than 2,000 people. They are scattered thus: The Passamaqoddies still occupy Sipayik or Pleasant Point, as it is better known, but the tribe ha~ been separated; for a few years ago, the band living at Lewy's Island, on the upper waters of the St. Croix, quarreled with the Sipayiks over the election of a chief, and now there are two divisions on the St. Croix. The Penobscot chief still holds his council at Old Town, and the Maliseet villages are scattered along the St. John. A branch of the Maliseet is settled at Cacouna on the south side of the St. Lawrence, near Riviere du Loup. This tribe was founded in 1828 by some thirty families who moved from the upper St. John. They are written down as Amalecites in the Canadian Department of Indian Affairs report.
