Not All Abenaki

Until recently, it was believed that the only Eastern Abenaki to survive in their traditional territories was a remnant of the Penobscot. It has become apparent, however, that not all Abenaki withdrew into the interior as English settlers preempted their lands; some chose to remain. But the cost was high, as they could only do so through an anonymity that amounted to a loss of identity. It was in Canada, outside of their ancestral lands, where they were drawn by their French alliance, that most Abenaki were able to maintain their identity and to survive as a people today.

The closing lines of a paper written by Olive Patricia Dickason, entitled “The French and the Abenaki:: A Study in Frontier Politics” which was published in Vermont History - The Proceedings of the Vermont Historical Society, Spring 1990, Vol. 58 No. 2.

The paper can be read in its entirety here.