The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600–1800: War, Migration, and the Survival of an Indian People (Volume 197)

by Colin G. Calloway

Before European incursions began in the seventeenth century, the Western Abenaki Indians inhabited present-day Vermont and New Hampshire, particularly the Lake Champlain and Connecticut River valleys. This history of their coexistence and conflicts with whites on the northern New England frontier documents their survival as a people-recently at issue in the courts-and their wars and migrations, as far north as Quebec, during the first two centuries of white contacts. Written clearly and authoritatively, with sympathy for this long-neglected tribe, Colin G. Calloway's account of the Western Abenaki diaspora adds to the growing interest in remnant Indian groups of North America. This history of an Algonquian group on the periphery of the Iroquois Confederacy is also a major contribution to general Indian historiography and to studies of Indian white interactions, cultural persistence, and ethnic identity in North America.

Genres: Indigenous, History

372 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

Colin G. Calloway is John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professor of History and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. His previous books include A Scratch of the Pen and The Victory with No Name.

Reviews

[Phyllis Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colin Calloway has done a mountain of work in reviewing what can be as difficult to research as it was to live through: the tug of war that never ended but produced mostly more difficulties and strained relations between the Abenaki and the incoming non-Native settlers.

That said, Colin Calloway seems to tire of the lack of a decisive outcome to the struggles and occasionally just lists a series of events. If there was nothing more to say about them, maybe he could have combined them to keep the pace going. He also does not seem to understand why there is a difference between New England and New York when it comes to better relations with Natives (even though the states touch each other) and what I see as the result of New York being settled by the Dutch and having a very different orientation to this day although the areas meet at the borders of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

These minor shortcomings would not have been a big negative for me but the omission of one major event and two mistakes in the index, placing a major site of several battles in the wrong state, were very problematic and shake my confidence in his research. Contemporary Abenaki scholars tell me they have difficulties with his work, too. Perhaps he had someone else editing his book for him but in the end, he is responsible for it and because it is non-fiction, it needs to adhere to higher standards.

I would hope he could correct later editions and bring the work up to the level that I can see he is capable of in some of his more inspired chapters. It's too important a historical study to leave it as it is.

[Megan Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before diving into my review, you should know that history is not usually my go-to genre. That being said, I wanted to learn more about the Native experience in my home state of Vermont, and how they came to be displaced from their lands here.

This text was very dry and hard to get through, but it was informative and included SO MANY resources and appropriate excerpts that I may not otherwise have encountered.

The reading experience felt like ping-ponging from one battle to the next with a few years of peace in between, but I do realize that this was how events unfolded in the past. The purpose of this text was not to dive into Abenaki culture and society, it was a history of the Western Abenaki people's movements and foreign relations in and around Vermont from the 17th - 19th centuries.

All in all, I think this is a great resource. I'm glad to know a bit more about the Native history in my home state, and how the push and pull of the English and French control changed the area now known as the state of Vermont.

[Jane Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Native American History. Calloway has been the premiere writer of Abenaki history in US. This book is a good basis for understanding their history. I read it about 10 years ago, 2010

[Bert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lent to friend: 2019, Feb. to Karen Kerstetter