WESTBROOK LETTER 1722 - Ethnographic Reply
Ethnographic Reply
I have included Ms. Lecompte's reply to the questions in its entirety as the answers are combined in her whole statement rather than addressed one by one.
[Ne-Do-Ba has edited this response slightly from it's original form. A series of three dots ... indicate where wording has been removed. The deleted text is primarily personal chatting.]
Kwai Nidoba (Hello my friend),
... Keep in mind that I do not have a detailed knowledge of all events and circumstances of this particular war, only a descent library of materials to consult.
Now you must understand that Ne-Do-Ba represents Wabanaki DESCENDANTS (far more white than red) who have never lived on a reservation and never had elders to teach us about our culture and history. The oral traditions kept by Penobscot and other Wabanaki groups that still exist as Native communities are piece meal at best. After all, you a{re} talking about events that occurred 100's of years ago. Until recently, the Wabanaki did NOT have a written history of their own and the current ones are not written by Wabanaki - just about them. It is only through research that anyone (White or Red) has been able to reconstruct events in this time period.
Many histories of New England and it's individual states have been written by respected English descendants. These historians were focused on the White history of the region and they did a pretty good job of presenting the history of settlements and families. They searched through Maine and Mass.{achusetts} archives for information concerning their topic and presented history from the viewpoint of the people they were writing about - they were not writing a Native history! We have no right to judge them for their choice of topic only for their choice of book titles. As an example, we expect a book entitled "History of Maine" to be balanced and complete. A better title would be "History of European Settlements and Families in Maine".
Current researchers have discovered that the history of the Wabanaki can be reconstructed using all existing archives. Many enlightening documents are found in NY, French and Dutch archives in North America as well as Europe, in personal correspondence kept by families on both continents, and in Church archives on both continents. We have only scratched the surface and there is still much treasure to be found. But IT IS THERE for those who want to go looking.
Dummer's War {is} also known as Three Years War, Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War and The War with the Eastern Indians. It is the fourth of six wars that were fought in Maine and the second (and last) that had no European counterpart. It is also referred to as Greylock's War in Vermont.
The 1721 Abenaki Letter [referred and linked to later in this paper] on our web site should give you some incite as to the Native issues of this period. I have also attached the transcription of another Abenaki Letter concerning the 1726 and 1727 Treaty of Casco Bay. ...
Was it the beginning of the end? - possibly. {Here she is making reference to information I relayed to her regarding Dummer's War as taken from "The History of Maine", Indian Wars, which I found on the Waterboro Public Library.} During this war the English did destroy Norridgewock and the fort at Penobscot. Lovewell's battle near Pigwacket (Fryeburg, ME) village also created great concern to the west. This was the first time in Maine history that the English had successfully taken the war to the Indians. In previous wars, the English were in a defensive position and had very little success in offensive expeditions. One reason for {the} current success was the number of experienced officers from previous wars - and many of them (or their family members) had been held captive among the Indians at one time or another, giving them an opportunity to learn more about their enemy. Several had learned the language and were friendly with the same Indians in peace time.
There was {a} long period of peace after this war. Many of the Abenaki bands who had fought so hard in this and in earlier wars do not appear to play large parts in the final two wars. Groups such as the Wawanock, Androscoggin, Saco, and Pennacook generally disappear from local history during this time. We now know that many simply joined other groups, such as the Penobscot, others went to missions in Quebec, and many just moved deeper into the wilderness joining with existing groups in the upper Androscoggin and Connecticut River watersheds.
Current research also indicates that many stayed and became part of the new settlements, intermarrying with the settlers. They learned to "hide in plain sight". I believe that many saw the futility of war and simply made the choice to stop fighting - they were NEVER DEFEATED in any of these wars (and only occasionally lost battles) but they always seemed to lose when it came time to sign treaties. War brought nothing but death and disruption to Wabanaki People. Warriors off winning battle could not hunt for their families, villages needed to be relocated to safer places away from English settlements where soil for crops and growing seasons were not as favorable, death from starvation was always a problem, disease always had more devastating effect on people that are undernourished, and of course there was death in war for many young men. So many negatives and nothing worth while ever seemed to come from the peace treaties. So - if you can't beat em, join em!
In Dummer's War the Wabanaki were not defeated - they did suffer from the lack of support of their French allies, who had encouraged them with spoken words but let them down on the important stuff.
Because the French and English were not at war, the French could not play an open role in the conflict. They did however, support the cause of their allies, the Wabanaki in many less obvious ways. It was in the best interest of New France and Acadia to keep the English from expanding their frontiers in New England. The ownership of the territory of Maine was in conflict (a European viewpoint - not Native) and physical control of the region by an ally was one way for France to handle the ownership conflict. The French needed the Wabanaki to make a stand, but France was not willing to be openly involved.
The Abenaki at Norridgewock requested the assistance of the French and the reply of Louis XIV concerning the position that Gov. Vaudreuil could take went like this "secretly encourage the other nations to assist the Abenaki". By other nations, I believe Indian nations are referred to here and would include Maine Abenaki and others who were then living at French mission villages in New France and Acadia. The Wabanaki did not really need French encouragement to assist their relatives in Maine, but, they did need supplies, guns, and ammunition which they could only get from the French or Dutch.
Concerning the death of Father Rales; The troops that took Norridgewock in 1724 had orders to spare the Jesuit's life. Three of the four officers of this expedition had been taken as captives in earlier wars (Capt. Harmon and Moulton and Lt. Bean) and this may have some bearing on the death of Rales in the attack. English reports of the destruction and death at Norridgewock are very overstated compared to French reports and Native oral history.
As to [the Westbrook] Letter, here are some comments;
- The statement that there were 5-600 Indians at Arrowsic, may be correct but may also be overstated. War cost money (MORE TAXES!) and like today, when our taxes go up we want justification. Officers like Westbrook knew the game. By convincing people that the threat was very large, they were more willing to support (TAXES!) his expedition and the war. We also don't know if he is reporting the number of Indian People or the number of warriors. Scholars estimate that there are on average 4-5 family members for every warrior. It is possibly that Indian families were at Arrowsic at this time to harvest food resources. So the threat may or may not be as great as it sounds in the letter.
- About the siege at Fort George, he mentions "The Indians Were Headed by y' fryar". Well, Father Rales was with them at Arrowsic (we know this from his own writings) and as a respected elder among them, he would have equal voice to the other elders in matters of importance. But, to believe he was leading them is a little too much. This may be politics at work the Jesuits in Maine were of great concern to the English as they helped to keep the Wabanaki ties to France very strong. The two Frenchmen there were probably sons of Baron Castine (actually ½ breeds) or other Frenchmen that had settled at Castine. ... Baron Castine, a Frenchman that married the daughter of Chief Madockowando. I believe the Baron was in France at this time, ... .
- The letter also gives us a nice description of the fort at Castine. This probably would have been built at the expense of the Castine family to protect their personal property (the family was heavily involved in trade between French, English and Wabanaki people) as well as to protect the Bay which was very important to their shipping business. The Indians preferred to fight guerilla warfare, staying on the move. The Wabanaki did stockade some of their villages, but seldom built or occupied forts for offensive purposes.
- We also learn from the letter that the Indians currently have a good food supply. Very important in sustaining the mental and physical health of warriors. By the time of the letter, we can also assume that the "Considerable Quandty Of Corn standing" has been harvested, as there is no mention of any attacks there that might disrupt the harvest. Things are basically going well for the Indians at this point. But, I would like to point out that these food resources are seasonal.
... I hope this has answered some of your questions and provided you some food for thought. ... .
Wliwni (Thank You)
Nancy Lecompte
Research & Programs Director for Ne-Do-Ba
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