Passamaquoddy
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Passamaquoddy is the name of a tribe of Native Americans located in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick.
The Passamaquoddy lacked a written history before the arrival of Europeans but do have an extensive oral tradition. They maintained a nomadic existence in the well-watered woods and mountains of the coastal regions along the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine, hunting inland in the winter and fishing on the coast and islands in the summer. The literal meaning of Passamaquoddy is "pollock spearing place" or "place where pollack are plentiful," relfecting the importance of this fish.
They were moved off land repeatedly by European settlers since the 16th century and were eventually limited to the current Indian Township Reservation in eastern Washington County, Maine. The Passamaquoddy also live in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, and maintain active land claims but have no legal status in Canada as a First Nation.
The Passamaquoddy population in Maine is about 2,500 people, with more than half of adults still speaking the Passamaquoddy language, which belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algic language family.
The Passamaquoddy may be best known outside the region for Passamaquoddy v. Morton, a 1975 land claims lawsuit in the United States which opened the door to successful land claims negotiations for many eastern tribes, giving federal recognition and millions of dollars to purchase trust lands.
Passamaquoddy Bay, straddling the United States-Canada border between New Brunswick and Maine, derives its name from the Passamaquoddy people.
Popular culture references
Members of the Passamaquoddy tribe appear as traders in the PBS series Colonial House.
Passamaquoddy is the name of a fictional Northeastern United States town in the Disney movie Pete's Dragon.
External link
- Passamaquoddy Tribal Government Web Site (http://www.wabanaki.com)bg:Пасамакоди