Traditions of the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot

The First Blade of Sweetgrass

This is a beautiful book and intergenerational story. I enjoyed reading it to my younger kids while the 11-year olds read the Young Adults edition of “Braiding Sweetgrass.”

“In this Own Voices Native American picture book story, a modern Wabanaki girl is excited to accompany her grandmother for the first time to harvest sweetgrass for basket making. Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations. This sweet, authentic story from a Maliseet mother and her Passamaquoddy husband includes backmatter about traditional basket making and a Wabanaki glossary.” (description from Amazon)

Malian’s Song, read it for free online at archive.org

This book opened up an opportunity for us to discuss the treatment of Native Americans from colonization until the present. The book says “This book is based on the memories of those events preserved in the oral traditions of the Obomsawin and Msadoques families. Malian’s village, Odanak, was situated on the St. Francis River, near the St. Lawrence, north of Montreal.”

“Malian’s Song is based on the true story of a deliberate attack by English Major Robert Rogers on Quebec’s St. Francis Abenaki community in 1759. Malian’s account of “Rogers’s Raid,” passed down through generations of Abenaki oral tradition, reveals that many Abenaki people survived the attack that destroyed their village, in direct contrast to Rogers’s journal accounts. Jeanne Brink, a descendant of Malian living in Vermont, told the Vermont Folklife Center the little-known Abenaki version of the brutal attack. In this first Abenaki and English picture book, preeminent Abenaki historian Marge Bruchac and illustrator William Maughan portray Malian’s story of a people’s strength and fortitude in the face of unspeakable loss.” (description from Amazon)

Raccoon’s Last Race, free to read online at archive.org

This is a hilarious and fun story about how boastful Azban the raccoon learns a lesson. His breaking of a promise results in the loss of his long legs and speed. Bruchac tells us in the Author’s note that Azban the Raccoon is a common trickster character in Abenaki and Penobscot stories.

The Arrow over the Door

“For young Samuel Russell, the summer of 1777 is a time of fear. The British Army is approaching, and the Indians in the area seem ready to attack. To Stands Straight, a young Abenaki Indian scouting for King George, Americans are dangerous enemies who threaten his family and home. When Stands Straight’s party enters the Quaker Meetinghouse where Samuel worships, the two boys share an encounter that neither will ever forget. Told in alternating viewpoints, The Arrow over the Door is based on a true story.” (description from Amazon)

March Toward the Thunder, link to read it for free at archive.org

“Louis Nolette, a fifteen-year-old Abenaki Indian from Canada, is recruited to fight in the northern Irish Brigade in the Civil War. Though he is too young, and neither American nor Irish, he finds the promise of good wages and the fight to end slavery persuasive enough to join up. But war is never what you expect, and as Louis fights his way through battles, he encounters prejudice and acceptance, courage and cowardice, and strong and weak leadership in the most unexpected places.

This paperback edition includes an author’s note, discussion guide, and selected bibliography for further reading.” (description from Amazon)

Rez Dogs

“Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation—she’s there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There’s a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration.
Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go out to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian’s family knows that he’ll protect them too.

Told in verse inspired by oral storytelling, this novel about the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the ways in which Indigenous nations and communities cared for one another through plagues of the past, and how they keep caring for one another today.” (description from Amazon)

Night Wings, archive.org

The recommended reading age for this book is 8 to 12 years. Joseph Bruchac writes a thriller of a story.

“Night Wings follows a Native American boy named Paul who is forced to journey up a treacherous mountain and must come face-to-face with something even more terrifying and deadly than his surroundings.

Paul has always believed in the power of dreams. He knows that they are often warnings. Warnings that should be taken very seriously. Now his nightmare visions of a fearsome winged creature are becoming all too real.

And though Paul has always depended on the wisdom of his Abenaki ancestors’ stories to guide him, no monster tale will prepare him for the horror he is about to encounter. All alone. At the top of one of the most dangerous mountains in the world.” (description from Amazon)

Great Rabbit and the Long-tailed Wildcat, archive.org

“A long time ago, Wildcat decides he wants to eat Great Rabbit and bets his beautiful tail that he can catch the bunny, but Great Rabbit tricks Wildcat three times and claims his prize” (description from Amazon)

The dedication page tells us that this book is “loosely based on a story told by Passamaquoddy Indian Tomah Joseph to folklorist and author Charles Godfrey Leland.”

Thanks to the Animals

This is written by a Passamoquoddy Storyteller, Allen Sockabasin. The beautiful tale tells of how the family travels north for the winter and the animals shelter a lost baby. The author’s note explains that this is “a story of a transitional time for the Passamaquoddy people. The family in the story has horses but is still migrating away from the coast and into the woods as the first snows fall.” There is further information about the Passamaquoddy, the “people of the pollack.”

Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer, archive.org

“A biography of Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis, who pursued his childhood love of baseball and eventually joined the Major Leagues, where he faced racism and discrimination with humility and courage as the first Native American to play professional baseball.” (from the publisher)

The discrimination faced by Sockalexis was shocking to us! There is an afterword and also a note about the renaming of the team to “Cleveland Indians.”

Kunu’s Basket, archive.org

“Kunu wants to make a pack basket, just like the other men on Indian Island. But making the basket is difficult, and Kunu gets frustrated. He is ready to give up when his grandfather intervenes. This is not only a story about a family tradition, but also a story about learning to be patient and gentle with yourself…This new paperback edition includes a new Author’s Note about the traditions and importance of basketmaking in Penobscot Nation culture.” (from the publisher)

The author is from both the Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.