Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Schaghticoke and Odanak by Marge Bruchac Shifting Homesites in the Connecticut River Valley For millennia, the Wôbanaki peoples along the Quinneticook (Connecticut) River and its tributaries lived in overlapping homelands while harvesting various natural resources through the seasons.They hunted as far north as southern Canada in the fall and fished together at the falls of the Quinneticook and Pocumtuck (Deerfield) rivers in spring.They traveled with their relatives and allies and gathered together for ceremonial and diplomatic occasions.(To learn more, see the explanation Native Land Use and Settlements in the Northeastern Woodlands.)The tribal names they were known by came from the Algonkian locative terms for settlements centered on planting fields close to the river: Agawam, Nonotuck, Pocumtuck, Quaboag (near the Swift River), Sokoki, and Woronoco (near the Westfield River).After 1630, long-standing traditional patterns of Native settlement and relationships in this valley were disrupted when Europeans arrived in the Connecticut River Valley.At first, English fur traders offered what seemed like a useful arrangement that would provide new goods and secure new English allies.(See the historic scene on this site: "Trade and Alliance" > "Trading at Springfield.")This artistic rendering of the Wôbanaki settlement on the Arsikantegouk (Saint Francis River) depicts wooden frame houses, bark wigwams, a small Catholic church, and the beginnings of a military stockade, circa 1690.
Author: Margaret Bruchac
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2566020950