Books about Wabanaki from Amazon.com

Reclaiming the Ancestors sets the record straight about the early history of the Wabanaki - the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Malecite, and Mi'kmaq. Wiseman proposes a sovereigntist approach to understanding the current archaeological understanding of Abenaki prehistory. He begins with an overview of the conflicting views of First Nations and archaeologists regarding Indigenous history and how he developed his research design model. Over the next 10 chapters the book explores and discusses the periods of Wabanaki prehistory. The final chapter takes the history to the beginning of the early contact period. The author makes he point that documentation of Wabanaki territory is of vital importance in today's political climate of Vermont. The Wabanaki face major obstacles as politicians utilize archaeological evidence against the Wabanaki's push for self-governance and recognition. The book contains limited black and white photographs of artifacts because the author made a conscious choice to respect items that were from grave sites. A fascinating history that dispels many previously-held academic viewpoints of the Wabanaki First Nations..
Price: $20.40 [Notify me when price goes down.]

For generations, Native American traditional artists in the Northeast have passed on their culture through beadwork, basketry, canoe making, wood carving, and quilting Through the work and words of over thirty-five traditional artists living and working primarily in Maine and New York, North by Northeast explores these artists' connection to place, tradition, and cultural identity. A tribute to the resourcefulness and creativity of contemporary practicing artists from the Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora tribes, the book is beautifully illustrated with the work of photographers Cedric Chatterley, Peggy McKenna, Jere DeWaters, and Peter Dembski.

Folklorist Kathleen Mundell has been working with Native American traditional artists for over fifteen years. Her collaboration with Maine's Native American basketmakers resulted in a multi-tribal effort to preserve the ash basketry tradition and in the creation of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance. North by Northeast will also include contributions by Salli Benedict (Mohawk), Sue Ellen Herne (Mohawk), Theresa Secord (Penobscot), and Lynne Williamson (Mohawk heritage)..
Price: $12.97 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In this groundbreaking book, David Gidmark reviews the early history of bark canoes, providing readers with an overview of construction methods and featuring the individual techniques of four traditional 20th-century Algonquin craftsmen and their assistants. Detailed descriptions of their step-by-step construction methods are included, and the adoption of tools and methods from non-Indian culture as shortcuts are noted (such as the use of canvas and roofing tar, duct tape and C-clamps). A chapter on paddlemaking in the native tradition completes the book.

Building a Birchbark Canoe: The Algonquin Wâbanäki Tcîmân is one of the most significant studies of Algonquin birchbark canoes and their construction. The author is one of the few outsiders to have learned the ancient craft of birchbark canoe making from the Algonquins, and in Building a Birchbark Canoe, he not only shares this skill but invites readers to appreciate the cultural significance of an elegant and practical craft that might otherwise be lost to history.

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Price: $12.51 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Follow the routes taken by Thoreau and his Wabanaki guides in 1846, 1853, and 1857." Includes Wabanaki Alphabet Pronunciation Guide and extensive history of Thoreau's travels on reverse side of map..
Price: $8.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In late September 1820, hoping to lay claim to territory then under dispute between Great Britain and the United States, Governor William King of the newly founded state of Maine dispatched Major Joseph Treat to survey public lands on the Penobscot and Saint John Rivers. Traveling well beyond the limits of colonial settlement, Treat relied heavily on the cultural knowledge and expertise of John Neptune, lieutenant governor of the Penobscot tribe, to guide him across the Wabanaki homeland. Along the way Treat recorded his daily experiences in a journal and drew detailed maps, documenting the interactions of the Wabanaki peoples with the land and space they knew as home.

Edited, annotated, and with an introduction by Micah Pawling, this volume includes a complete transcription of Treat's journal, reproductions of dozens of hand-drawn maps, and records pertaining to the 1820 treaty between the Penobscot Nation and the governing authorities of Maine. As Pawling points out, Treat's journal offers more than the observations of a state agent conducting a survey. It re-creates a dialogue between Euro-Americans and Native peoples, showing how different perceptions of the land were negotiated and disseminated, and exposing the tensions that surfaced when assumptions and expectations clashed. In large part because of Neptune's influence, the maps, in addition to detailing the location of Wabanaki settlements, reflect a river-oriented Native perspective that would later serve as a key to Euro-American access to the region's interior.

The groundwork for cooperation between Treat and Neptune had been laid during the 1820 treaty negotiations, in which both men participated and which were successfully concluded just over a month before their expedition departed from Bangor, Maine. Despite conflicting interests and mutual suspicions, they were able to work together and cultivate a measure of trust as they traveled across northern Maine and western New Brunswick, mapping an old world together while envisioning its uncertain future..
Price: $29.05 [Notify me when price goes down.]