Indigenous Peoples of Maine

Learn about the Indians of Maine, the tribes and bands, reservation and records

To learn how to get started with Native American research, find research facilities, and native American websites click here.

Tribes and Bands of Maine
The following list of American Indians who have lived in Maine has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians... and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.


 * Abnaki (Abnaki, Wabanaki) Abnaki Confederacy: there were and estimated 25,000 Abnakis at the time of the Puritan settlement.
 * Malecite
 * Passamaquoddy
 * Penobscot
 * Pennacook


 * The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes: A Resource book about Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac and Abenaki Indians. By American Friends Service Committee. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: c 1989 WorldCat

Minor or Historical Tribes or Tribes with Minimal Connection to Maine
Anasaguntacooks, Etechemin, Norridgewock


 * The Indians of Maine. by Roger B. Ray. Maine Historical Society (Portland,Maine) WorldCat

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters. They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Census
Census of the Penobscot Tribe of Indians: as compiled by the tribal committee on February 11,1971, at Indian Island, Maine. by Penobscot Nation. Tribal Committee. WorldCat

Church
The Catholic Indian Missions in Maine, 1611-1820. by Mary Celeste Leger. WorldCat

Family History Library

 * Masta, Henry Lorne, Abenaki Indian Legends, Grammar and Place Names (Victoriaville, Quebec:LaVoix de Bois-Frances, c1932) ;


 * Whitney, Seth Harding, The Kennebec Valley (Tucson, Arizona:W.C. Cox, 1974) ;


 * Penobscot Nation Tribal Committee, Census of the Penobscot tribe of Indians: as compiled by the tribal committee on February 11, 1971, at Indian Island, Maine (Indian Island, Maine:[s.n.], 1971)


 * Speck, Frank Gouldsmith, Penobscot Man:the Life History of a Forest Tribe in Maine (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Xerox University Microfilms, 1974) ;


 * American Friends Service Committee, The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes: a resource book about Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac and Abenaki Indians (Philadelphi, Pennsylvania: American Friends Service Committe, c1989) {{WorldCat| {{FHL|452961|item|disp=FHL book 970.3 Ab71w}}


 * Leger, Sister Mary Celeste, The Catholic Indian missions in Maine, 1611-1820: a dissertation submitted to the faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of America in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Washington (DC): Catholic University of America, 1929) {{FHL|656536|item|disp=FHL book 970.1 L524c}}


 * Lorraine Henry (Rainwaters) and Jane Curtis Joseph Waters, Native American Directory of: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Wisconsin {{WorldCat|39334447|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}; {{FHL|728264|item|disp=FHL book 970.1 H396n}}

See also the FamilySearch Catalog Maine Native Races

History

1525-1775 The Abnaki carried on an extensive fur trade. The city of Pemaquid was a trade center for New England.

The Abnaki were constantly at war with the English. At the end of French power, most of the Abnaki withdrew to Quebec Canada

Other Repositories

 * Maine State Archives, State House Station 64, Augusta, ME 04333

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the Native American was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

For a current reservation map - Maine - Indian Reservations- The National Atlas of the United States of America. Federal Lands and Indian Reservations. by the U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Geological Survey.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.


 * Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians
 * Houlton Band of Malecite (Maliseet): State, Tribe: Malecite
 * Indian Township Reservation: State, Tribe: Passamaqoddy
 * Passamaquoddy Reservation: State, Tribe:Passamaquody
 * Penobscot Reservation: State, Tribe: Penobscot Located in Penobscot County. Tribal enrollment 1969: 840; Land Tribally owned see also: Penobscot Island Reservation
 * Pleasant Point Reservation:State, Tribe Passamaquody

See Also:

 * Maine-History for a calendar of events
 * Maine-Military for a list of forts
 * Ne-Do-Ba for additional information