Abenaki

“ This mission was chiefly in Maine and Acadia, and on Cape Breton Island. The Abenakis (or Abnakis) were a strong but mild-mannered Algonkin tribe, settled in villages or cantonments; but, like others of their race, in the habit of taking long semi-annual journeys,—each winter to hunt, and each summer to fish. ”

“ Analco, a settlement of Guadalaxara, in Mexico, containing 40 Indian families.
Anasaguntakook, a band of the Abenaki, on the sources of the Androscoggin, in Maine.
Ancamares, a nation of Indians inhabiting the shores of the river Madera. They are very warlike and robust. In 1683 they attacked the Portuguese, and compelled them to give up the navigation of the river. They are divided into different tribes. The most numerous are the Ancamares, who inhabit the shores of the river Cayari. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It was produced by a little mountain-stream, which came tumbling impetuously down a ledge of rocks, and lost itself in foam. By the distance and vehemence of its fall, rather than the volume of water, it made the hills resound with its mimic thunder. The predilection which the red men have ever manifested for the roar of water, was probably the reason why the principal rendezvous of the Abenakis had been selected within the echo of this little cataract. Amy seated herself upon the rocks, where she could look into the sea of bubbles and diamonds below. ”

“ The lands we possess have been given us by the Great Master of Life, we acknowledge to hold only from him.”
In 1755 they were again in the field, and followed the French armies to the head of Lake George, and carried terror into the new townships on the Connecticut river. Some of their small parties at that late day penetrated within sixty miles of the capital of New England. But these long continued aggressions were soon to meet a fearful retribution. The capture of Quebec, which gave North America to England, had changed the relation of the Abenakis. ”

“ Abanakee, or Eastlanders, a distinct people, consisting of a plurality of tribes, who formerly occupied the extreme north eastern part of the United States. The word is variously written by early writers. See Abenakies, Abernaquis, Wabunakies.
Abancay, the capital of a province of the same name 20 leagues from Cuzco, in Peru. It is memorable for the victories gained in the vicinity by the king's troops in 1542 and 1548 against Gonzalo Pizarro. It lies in a rich and spacious valley, which was inhabited by the subjects of the Inca, on the conquest. ”

“ In April, 1725, a delegation of three gentlemen visited Montreal with a letter from the Governor of Massachusetts, in reply to one addressed to him some months previously by M. Vaudreuil, relative to the attack at Norridgewock, and the death of Father Rasle. They demanded that the prisoners held by the Abenakis should be given up, and a perpetual peace established.
The Indians, who were entirely under the influence of the French, were extremely haughty in their language and deportment ”

“ At the mouth of the Kennebec they absolutely planted nothing. Their language, as observed by Mr. Gallatin, has strong affinities with those of the Etchemins, and of the Micmacs, of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; there are fewer resemblances in its vocabulary to the dialects south of them. This nation appears to have been called Tarrenteens, by the New England Indians. Their generic name for themselves, if they had one, is unknown. The term Abenakie, is one manifestly imposed by Algonquin tribes living west and south of them. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Abenakies, a nation formerly inhabiting a large part of the territorial area of the states of New Hampshire and Maine. There were several tribes, of this nation the principal of which were the Penobscots, the Norredgewocks, and the Ameriscoggins. They were at perpetual hostilities with the New England colonists. They had received missionaries, at an early day, from the French in Canada, and acted in close concert with the hostile Indians from that quarter. ”

“ Abernaquis, a settlement of the expatriated Abenakies of New England, in Lower Canada. They subsist themselves at this time in a great measure by agriculture, and manifest a disposition to improve. From a report made in 1839 by the American Board of Foreign missions of Boston who employ a missionary and teacher among them, sixty persons attend Protestant worship, of which number, 24 are church members. Twenty of the youth attend a daily school.
Abigiras, an Indian mission formerly under the charge of the order of Jesuits, in the governmental department of Quito. ”

“ For instance, Maurault (op. cit., pp. 272-273 and p. VII) inclines to interpretation (1) . Prof. J. D. Prince (American Anthropologist, n. s. Vol. IV, p. 17 (1902) ) favors the third, and quotes Gill (Notes sur les Vieux Manuscrits Abenakis, Montreal, 1866, p. 13) as showing the same opinion. The second interpretation receives favor from Joseph Laurent (Lola) , “New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues,” Quebec, 1884, p. 206.
According to their own traditions of the removal,21 the Wawenock informant says, they reached the St. Lawrence River opposite the mouth of St. ”

“ Scattered along the valley, among the adjacent hills, or over the neighboring prairie, were the cantonments of a half-score of other tribes, and fragments of tribes, gathered under the protecting aegis of the French,—Shawanoes from the Ohio, Abenakis from Maine, Miamis from the sources of the Kankakee, with others whose barbarous names are hardly worth the record. ”

“ Benkei is one of the most lovable of Japanese heroes. He possessed the strength of many men, his tact amounted to genius, his sense of humour was strongly [Pg xvii] developed, and the most loving of Japanese mothers could not have shown more gentleness when his master's wife gave birth to a child. When Yoshitsune and Benkei, at the head of the Minamoto host, had finally vanquished the Taira at the sea-fight of Dan-no-ura, their success awakened the jealousy of the Shōgun, and the two great warriors were forced to fly the country. ”

“ Benkei was too big for a modest Japanese home. When he struck Jin-saku's anvil that useful object sank deep into the earth, and for firewood he would bring a great pine-tree. When Benkei was seventeen years old he became a priest in a Buddhist temple; but that did not prevent him from having a thrilling escapade with a beautiful young girl called Tamamushi. We soon find our hero breaking away from love and priestcraft, and entirely devoting his attention to the exciting adventures of a [Pg 41] lawless warrior. ”

“ Two hundred year-seasons ago, the Abenaques were the great nation of the east. From the sea to the mountains they were the lords of Mavoshen. [Footnote: The name by which the Province of Maine was designated by the early voyagers, and the Indian word probably from which the present name of the State of Maine was derived.] They were a nation of warriors and a wise and active people. But, of all the four tribes—the Sokokis, the Anasquanticooks, the Kenabas, the Wawenocks—who made up this great nation, the Sokokis were the wisest and bravest. ”

“ Yoshitsune would have seemed a very remarkable hero had not his faithful henchman, Benkei, also figured in Japanese history and legend. As it is we are forced to admit that Benkei was far and away the greater man. He not [Pg 40] only towered in stature above his companions, but he rose above his brethren in courage, wit, resource, and a wonderful tenderness. Here was a man who could slay a hundred men with absolute ease, and with the same quiet assurance expound the Buddhist Scriptures. ”

“ In the story of Yoshitsune very little was said about Benkei; you may therefore like to hear something more about the famous man who is so favourite a hero with Japanese children and so greatly respected in Japan for his faithfulness to his master.
Benkei was the son of a Buddhist priest named Bensho, High Steward of the Temple of Gongen at Kumano, a famous shrine from ancient times, and his mother was the daughter of a high Court official of the second rank. ”

“ The profound pathos of the notion that Benkei, who had again and again risked his life in Yoshitsune's cause, should have been obliged to raise his hand against the man he loved, and the shockingly sacrilegious nature of such conduct on the part of a vassal towards his lord, appeal with intense force to the mind of every Japanese; force not to be estimated unless it is remembered that to have thrown himself upon the barrier-guards and fallen fighting, would have been an incomparably less painful and more orthodox alternative to the loyal halberdier than the course he adopted. ”

“ Benkei. No, my lord, I did not hear anything.
Yoshitsune. They said that a new barrier-guard has been set at Ataka, and that pilgrims attempting to pass are subjected to rigorous examination.
Benkei. What incredible ill-fortune! They must have set a guard because they heard of your lordship's journey. This is of the gravest import. Let us take counsel here.
The other Pilgrims. It does not seem to us that the case is so serious. We have only to cut a way for our lord's passage.
Benkei. A moment! It is true, as you say, that we might easily force this one barrier. ”

“ She beamed upon me with a radiant smile, utterly unconscious of my real meaning.
“Is not Woroto Sama a kinsman of Owari?” she murmured. “Though he came from beyond the seas, he has proved that he is samurai bred. No longer will the clan of Owari think of him as a man of tojin birth.”
“It is true, august lady. I am now Japanese. The country of my brother Yoritomo is now my country, and his mission is my mission.” I sat up. “See! My strength returns at the very thought. Let Yuki be sent to me. He and I have alike incurred the displeasure of the Shogun. We will become ronins.” ”

“ He felt vexed at La Hontan. But that inquisitive nobleman stooped to lift the tent flap, and the young man turned toward his waiting Indians and talked a moment in Abenaqui, when they went on in the direction of the river, carrying game and camp luggage. They thought, as he did, that this might be a lodge with which no man ought to meddle. The daughter of Madockawando, the chief, was known to be coming from her winter retreat. Every Abenaqui in the tribe stood in awe of the maid. She did not rule them as a wise woman, but lived apart from them as a superior spirit. ”

“ The northeast monsoon, after weeks of steady effort, had blown the moisture of the Japan Current southward. The air was as clear as crystal, the blue sky cloudless. It was no day to lead a man out to a hideous death—I should have been strolling through the gardens with Azai....
On to the Tokaido, and down along the bay shore through Shinagawa, marched the grimly grotesque warriors of antique Nippon. It seemed a lifetime since my dear brother had led me after the cortege of Satsuma, through the black gate and along the broad way and down that narrow street to the house of Kohana. ”

“ The Dutch told the Shogunate to expect the expedition.”
“The Dutch did not say that the American ships would come to Yedo Bay,” said the older of the two strange daimios who sat between me and Keiki.
“How should the Dutch know?” interposed Satsuma in a voice resonant with depth and power. “The Dutch are a little people. Can they foresee the actions of a great people? The Americans have shown boldness and wisdom in coming direct to Yedo Bay. Nagasaki is a long way from Nippon.”
“Does the Daimio of Satsuma favor the mission of the barbarians?” demanded Keiki. ”

“ He regarded Aoyama with grave suspicion. The samurai called to him. "Here you! Your mistress has fainted. Water at once!" But the fellow did nothing but answer "Hei! Hei!" without sign of motion. "Don't sit and purr like a cat," roared Shūzen. "Off with you, and fetch water." At last the man took courage to approach. "Alas! Danna Sama, this Banchō, where the thieves are apparitions, and apparitions turn to women, frightens this Isuké."—"Fear or no fear, water must be had. Such milk livered fellows are not for man's work. Weakness of loins won't do. ”

“ I cried, “how can you bear to come near the tojin?—Forgive me!”
“Forgive?” she asked, in evident wonderment. “Not forgiveness but gratitude is due the august lord. The House of Owari is the debtor of Woroto Sama.”
I stared at her incredulously. Was it possible that even she could feel gratitude towards the man who had held the sword? She was his mother!—Yet I could not mistake the expression of her gentle face. It is not alone the men of Nippon’s nobility who are samurai bred. ”

“ One of these guard-houses, at Ataka, is the scene of the drama. The giant halberdier, Benkei, almost as celebrated in Japanese history as Yoshitsune himself, devises a plan to pass the barrier. He disguises Yoshitsune as the baggage-bearer of the party, and, at a critical moment, disarms suspicion by beating him as though he were a common coolie. To the barrier-guards it seems incredible that the brilliant young nobleman, with whose exploits the whole empire is ringing, should be submitted to such a terrible indignity, and they allow the pilgrims to pass. ”