(Reprint 8) ANGLO-WABANAKI RELATIONS 1605-1630.

Presented 1994 at 26th AlgnConf (Winnipeg, MB)
Published 1995 as pp.291-305 of Pot26AC ISSN 0031-5671 Winnipeg, MB
David H Pentland, Editor.

Abstract: The Dawnlanders – the Wabanaki Algonquian peoples of sub- St. Lawrence Canada and northern New England – were among the first Amerinds to be contacted and willingly influenced by European fishermen/ fur-traders, during the Proto-Historic Period (the 16th century). By the last quarter of the 17th century, the Wabanaki had suffered too much from English land-usurpation and extreme ethnocentrism, and so they retaliated militarily – first on their own, later as the perennial allies of the French. While the sociocultural dynamics leading to this state of affairs are far too complex for any brief paper to handle meaningfully, analysis of the first 25 years of Anglo-Wabanaki intensive contact clearly shows that the selfish English attitudes toward the land and its Natives were present from the very beginning of the Early Historic Period.

(Reprint 9) DAWNLAND DOG-FEAST: Wabanaki Warfare & Slavery. c.1600-c.1760.

Presented 1989 at 21st AlgnConf (St-Johns, Nfld)
Published 1990 as pp.258-278 in Pot21AC ISSN 0031-5671 Ottawa , ON
William Cowan, Editor.

Abstract: This paper discusses customs of warfare and slavery among the Wabanaki Algonquian peoples of sub-St. Lawrence Canada and northern New England. Two periods are compared: before 1675 (the era of relative independence), and after 1675 (the era of hostility toward the English and friendship with the French).

(Reprint 10) THE WABANAKI IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: Some Preliminary Comments.

Presented 1978 at 10th AlgnConf (Fredericton, NB)
Published 1979 as pp.142-151 of Pot10AC ISBN 0-7709-0059-3 Ottawa, ON
William Cowan, Editor.

Abstract: A surprising number of children’s books depict the White-contact history, folklore, and ethnography of the Dawnlanders – the Wabanaki Algonkians of northern New England and sub-St. Lawrence Canada. This paper is concerned with ten historical novels for children and the image of the Wabanaki that they teach. Although some of these novels are based on contemporary frontier captivity narratives, modern children’s literature is a separate genre, and its propaganda impact should be better understood.

An appeal is made for suggestions for further research in this field, and it is hoped that other Algonkianists will investigate the children’s books dealing with their respective peoples.

(Reprint 11) THE WABANAKI IN 19th-CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE: Some Examples Of How They Fared.

Presented 1980 at 12th AlgnConf (Ann Arbor, Ml)
Published 1981 as pp.5-20 of Pot12AC ISBN 0-7709-0116-6 Ottawa, ON
William Cowan, Editor.

Abstract: Some of New England’s most famous authors of the 19th century used the local Wabanaki Algonkians as subjects for prose or poetry. Their information sources often were colored by then-not-very-distant memories of deadly combat between Wabanaki Natives and New England Colonists. Frequently the resulting image was intentionally negative, yet that of the Noble Savage appeared occasionally also (for better or worse). This literature, too often accepted as factually true, has influenced the historical beliefs, and especially the attitudes toward Indians, of generations of schoolchildren and the reading public in general. Herein, relevant works of three such authors are discussed: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882); John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892); and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864).

(Reprint 12) THE WABANAKI IN WHITE LITERATURE: Some Further Comments.

Presented 1992 at 24th AlgnConf (Ottawa, ON)
Published 1993 as pp.306-317 of Pot24AC ISSN 0031-5671 Ottawa, ON
William Cowan, Editor.

Abstract: In this, my third paper on Wabanaki peoples in White literature, several relevant analytical criteria are discussed, including a personally-and-culturally-relativistic frontier-encounter model. Some additional information is presented to shed new light on old material, to supplement earlier treatment in my 19th-century American Literature paper (Reprint 11). Finally, some newer books are considered, which are based upon positive, peaceful encounters between Wabanakis and Whites. These are a welcome change from the negative, wartime themes of most of the books assessed in my Children’s Literature paper (Reprint 10). Indeed, at last, Wabanaki peoples and persons now seem to be depicted with considerably greater concern for both their and Whites’ common humanity.