The Abenaki & The Europeans

400 years ago, Vermont was not “Vermont.” It was, and still is, part of the land Ndakinna where the Western Abenaki people live. Their land includes what is now Vermont and New Hampshire. It also includes parts of Maine, Massachusetts and Quebec, Canada. Historians estimate(to make a guess) that in the early 1600s, 10,000 Abenaki lived in what is now Vermont.

For over 12,000 years, Abenaki people have lived on this land. They hunted in the woods and fished in the rivers. The Abenaki grew crops in fields and built wigwams in villages.

After the Europeans(people from Europe) came, the Abenaki traded with them. The French and English traders wanted furs to sell in Europe. Abenaki people traded these furs for metal tools and cloth. The Europeans also gave the Abenaki new diseases they had never had before. Many Abenaki got sick or died from diseases like small pox.

Some of the Europeans came to North America to stay. They started settlements, then towns, and then colonies(land that is ruled by another country). The English settlers wanted to own the land where they built their houses and farms.

Sometimes the Abenaki and Europeans got along and shared their spaces. Sometimes they fought each other over the land. The Europeans had more guns and more people than the Abenaki. The Abenaki people knew the land better than the Europeans.

The European settlers took most of the land from the Abenaki. Many of the Abenaki people moved farther away from the Europeans. Some moved into the forests. Others moved north to the Abenaki villages of Missisquoi and St. Francis. And the Europeans kept coming to what is now Vermont.