Acadia National Park guide · 1 min read
Wabanaki Homeland: 10,000 Years on Acadia
The Wabanaki, whose name means People of the Dawnland, are a confederacy of five related Algonquian nations: the Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki and Penobscot.
Their ancestors have lived along the coast of what is now Maine, nearby Canada and the surrounding islands for at least 12,000 years. That history reaches back long before any European ship appeared offshore.
Mount Desert Island sits at the heart of this homeland. Some Wabanaki nations call it Pemetic, a word meaning range of mountains. The island has never stopped being central to Wabanaki territory, and Wabanaki people still carry a responsibility to care for it today.
Reaching the island meant traveling by birch bark canoe. Families came here to hunt and fish, pick berries, dig clams, and collect basket materials such as sweetgrass. It was also a place to trade with other Wabanaki. Camps went up near spots like Somes Sound, and people lived on the island through every season.
The Wabanaki resisted European colonization and held on to their culture and their bond with this landscape. The tribes recognized today include the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Mi'kmaq Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkokmikuk, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, and the Penobscot Indian Nation. Wabanaki people are still here, and the park remains a place of lasting importance to them.
Even the park's name traces back to a Wabanaki language. The Mi'kmaq word akadie, meaning piece of land, was adapted into French by early explorers, and English speakers later turned that into Acadia. Each time you say the name, you are repeating a word that began with the people of this place.
