ABNAKI

also called Wabanaki a confederacy of Algonkian-speaking Indian tribes in northeast North America, which was organized to furnish resistance and protection against the Iroquois Confederacy, especially the Mohawk, of what is now northern New York state. In its earliest known organization it consisted of tribes east and northeast of present New York: Malecite in present New Brunswick; Passamaquoddy and Penobscot in present Maine; and tribes in present Vermont and New Hampshire. Later it included some eastern tribes as far south as the Delaware tribe. Although they relied primarily on hunting and fishing, some corn (maize) was grown throughout the coastal region, more intensively from north to south. In the north the typical dwelling was the birch-bark-covered wigwam occupied by several families. The birch-bark canoe was in general use. Game was taken in snares and traps and by bow and arrow. Each tribe consisted of small bands under a headman, or civil chief, who advised but had little compulsory authority; there was a separate war chief. A general council of all the men and women decided matters relating to war; a grand council of chiefs and representatives of each family decided other questions of importance to the group. There was institutionalized comradeship with mutual responsibility, which united two men for life. Belief in a culture hero who will return to help the people in time of great need persists to the present. Chiefly as a result of missionary influence, beginning in the 17th century the Abnaki favoured French interests and carried on a war against the English. After several severe defeats in 1724 and 1725, the Abnaki were reduced in number, and most withdrew to Canada, eventually settling at Saint-Franois-du-Lac in Quebec. The population in the late 20th century was about 5,000.