Frank G. Speck

“ As for social organization no knowledge is preserved of the family hunting territories, for it seems that at Becancour hunting has not 177 been a practicable occupation for several generations. Neither dances nor ceremonies have been performed within the memory of the old people, so we only have the names of several dances which are remembered through tradition. The term alnαk`hadi ́·n denotes the common dance (Penobscot alnαba ́gan) performed as a part of the marriage ceremony which, like that of the Penobscot, is proposed by means of wampum. ”

“ Maurault (op. cit., p. 77) differs from others in giving the form “‘sakkadaguk’ à l’endroit où le terrain est plat et uni.” The proper name Sαŋkədeławiak, “people of where the river flows out,” is known among the Penobscot to-day and has been frequently used by authors in referring to Indians at the mouth of the Kennebec and Androscoggin Rivers, or better, as Kendall states, to “the people of the common mouth of Kennebec and Amariscoggin, that is the Sagahoc of the early colonists.” ”

“ The following are the family names of the tribe. Some are still in existence (marked *) ; others have recently become extinct.
So far as can be said at present the material culture of the Wawenock was practically identical with that of the Penobscot and St. Francis Abenaki. Not much of this is preserved by the survivors at the present day. The tribe, however, still keeps its organization under a chief. In the traditions of the Wabanaki Confederacy, as far as we know them, the Wawenock are not mentioned, though they had been represented in the alliance at an earlier time. ”

“ In ancient times the tribes on the coast of Maine extended into the interior, but were more or less locally identified with the mouths of the rivers and the large bays. The Wawenock were then located southwest of the Penobscot, whose proper territory on the coast only surrounded Penobscot Bay. ”

“ Its intermediate complexion has led to an anomalous classification among the Indians themselves. The Penobscot associate Wawenock with the St. Francis dialect, while the latter reciprocate by classing it with Penobscot. As a final consideration it might be added that intercourse with the St. Francis people has been too irregular to have influenced the idiom in recent years, hence the intermediary characteristics of the dialect seem genuine properties, not of a kind acquired since the migration of the tribe from its old home in Maine. ”

“ Francis Abenaki he is a bird-like monster which flies from one end of the world to the other in one day. He can hear the merest mention of his name if anyone calls him. (Cf. Maurault, op. cit., p. 574.) In Penobscot mythology, Pəmu ́le, “Comes flying,” is believed to heed the appeal of men. Once a year he flies across the sky, propelling himself with bull-roarers, giving three cries ”

“ They went up a hill, they went up a mountain, and when they got on top of the mountain, when they began to gaze all around with open eyes, so great a distance around could they see the lakes, the rivers, and the trees, and all the lay of the land of the country. ”

“ Her folks ridiculed her, saying that she was silly with old age. When they had gathered in the church the English attacked and the old woman was the only one to escape, taking with her her grandchild on a cradle board and swimming Kennebec River. The rest of the people were killed. During the massacre one of the Indians tomahawked or shot Rasles in revenge. The same story, strange to say, is well known among the Penobscot and the Malecite. ”

“ Then the man, when he saw where Bmulε ́ had hidden it after taking it from his mouth, thought that he would go and steal it. Accordingly, the man started to crawl flat on his belly so that his friend would not see him, and when he came near, crawling slyly along, he took the gold.
65 A St. Francis Abenaki tale, given by C. G. Leland and J. D. Prince (Kuloskap The Master, New York 1902, p. 236) , rather closely follows this narrative, though in the St. Francis story “P’mula” gives magic eye-rings of a snake to the hunter. ”

“ When the Owner made the first man then when the first man was made Gluskabe created himself out of the left-over material, out of this earth left over, this earth sprinkled.59 That is why Gluskabe was so strong. ”

“ Within the last generation the Wawenock dialect has gone completely out of use. Most of the survivors are half-breeds and speak French. The only person I found who knows the dialect is François Neptune, supposedly a full blood, in his sixties (1914) , the oldest man at Becancour, whose acquaintance I had the good fortune to make in 1914 during a trip of reconnaissance among the Abenaki in company with Mr. ”

“ B THE TURTLE INSULTS THE CHIEF OF THE BIRDS; GLUSKABE HELPS HIM TO ESCAPE; MOUNTAINS ARE CREATED; AND AGAIN TURTLE ESCAPES BY GETTING HIS CAPTORS TO THROW HIM INTO THE WATER, BUT IS FINALLY KILLED
Negawa ́ida So well then pemi·zo·bek`Wke ́t as he wandered by the ocean Gluskα̨be ́ Gluskabe ni·uni· ́łαn then he killed podeba ́l` a whale; ni·ugizi·nłα ́n then when he had killed podeba ́l` the whale ni·unα̨dji· ́ then he went wa ́wαndokewα`n to inform wusa ́si·za`l` his uncle toləba ́ turtle, ni·udi· ́łαnα then he told him “naba ́tci·eli·` “Great fortune! killed podebε ́” a whale.” ”

“ Francis a and in Penobscot e occurs, though resembling Penobscot more. Wawenock Gluskα̨bε, St. Francis Gulskα̨ba ́, Penobscot Gluskα̨ ́be; Wawenock be· ́nαm, St. Francis p`ha ́nαm, Penobscot p`he ́nαm. “woman.” The dental quality of the alveolar consonants (n, t, d, l) is something of an individuality to Wawenock. It is totally foreign to Penobscot and the dialects eastward, while the St. Francis pronunciation 179 shows it in t, d, and the affricatives. Wawenock, like St. Francis Abenaki, has the final syllable stress. Like St. ”

“ John by way of Chicoutimi. They migrated to Metabetchouan by canoe from Chicoutimi, and settled near the Hudson Bay Co.’s post, long since abandoned. Here they appropriated hunting territories with the permission of the Montagnais. Charles Neptune died in 1907. He spoke the Wawenock language. Six sons and three daughters survived him, his wife having been a Canadian. Their descendants are now living among the Montagnais at Lake St. John, under the family names of Neptune, du Chêne, and Phillippe. Another Wawenock from Becancour, Louis Philip, lives at Lake St. ”

“ Lawrence from those flowing southward into the Atlantic.
56 A mythical character common to the Malecite, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Wawenock. She is described as having a figure like a “jug,” who lives alone in the remote forests. ”

“ He kept on switching it and now it will forever be marked while there are people living in the world. This is the end of my story.61
61 The “eyes” in the bark of the white birch are the blisters caused by Gluskabe’s switching. Such an explanation is very common in northern and northeastern Algonkian mythology. (Cf. S. T. Rand, Legends of the Micmacs, p. 67, and F. G. Speck, Myths and Folk-Lore of the Temiskaming Algonquin and Timagami Ojibwa, Memoir Anth., Series No. 8, Geological Survey of Canada, p. 83.) ”

“ C
ni·gawa And then that Gluskα̨bε ́ Gluskabe wedji·mαdjełα ́nt went away sobegu ́k to the ocean ni·wuno ́sotəg- then he followed wetekamə ́n a river up malαmi· ́ at last ktci·dαba ́kwαni·ganα ́k55 to the great divide. ni·wedji· ́ Thence kalapα̨ ́welα`nt he started up mozu ́l` a moose ni·wa ́ and that mu·s moose mα̨djełα ́nt started off man· ́i·wi· among si ́·bui·ku`k the rivers teka ́ in direction Pan·awᴐ̹· ́mp`skao`k of Penobscot River Valley lagwewi· ́ toward. ni·wewᴐ̹la ́n Then she knew Pukədji ́nskwes ́u`56 Pukedjinskwessu ni·gi·zi·we ́dolamα`k57 and she could sense it. ”