We are a Native American Nation comprised of descendants of the
Alnobak (Abenaki Indians) that have inhabited N'Dakinna, also known as
Vermont, Southern Quebec and parts of New York state and New Hampshire
for over 12,000 years. As a people, Western Abenakis trace their roots
to the Lenni Lenape and share most of the traditions, stories,
ceremonies and language of our Algonkian relations. Since the early
1600s, many of our people have intermarried with our Iroquoian neighbors
and we maintain a strong connection to them. In the early 1800s, several
of our bands, along with Munsee Delawares, moved near the Six Nations in
Canada where our people practiced the Big House ceremonies and shared
ceremony with the Cayuga. The five primary clans of our people are the
Turtle, Bear, Beaver, Dove and Otter. Before European contact our people
numbered close to 70,000.
In the late 1700s, our ancestors served in the American
Revolution. We were one of the few Native American tribes to serve in
the Colonial Army under General George Washington during the American
fight for freedom and independence from England. Mazipskwik is the
Abenaki word for Missisquoi, or place of the flint, one of the main
Abenaki villages that bordered Lake Champlain, and the traditional
homeland for many people of Abenaki descent up to the present day. We
have also been known as the Saint Francis or Saint John Indians.