Wabanaki

Wabanaki refers to a historical and contemporary alliance of Indigenous nations in the northeastern part of North America. The name comes from an Algonquian word meaning “people of the dawn” or “people of the east.” The traditional Wabanaki homeland covers areas of present-day Maine, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. The confederacy is commonly understood to include the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik), Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki, each with its own government but sharing cultural and political ties.

Historically, Wabanaki communities organized around seasonal rounds of fishing, hunting, and gathering, maintaining extensive trade networks with neighboring peoples and European colonists. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the confederacy formed as a political alliance to coordinate diplomacy and defense, and many Wabanaki nations aligned with the French during periods of colonial conflict while also engaging in fur trade and settlement diplomacy. Relations with English and later British authorities varied, and the region saw numerous conflicts and treaties that affected landholdings and sovereignty.

In the modern era, the Wabanaki Confederacy persists as a cultural and political alliance, though each member nation governs its own affairs under its respective national or provincial/territorial framework. Contemporary concerns include treaty rights, land and resource claims, and efforts to preserve and revitalize Wabanaki languages and cultures. The Wabanaki languages—Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abnaki—belong to the Algonquian language family and are the focus of ongoing revitalization and education programs.