The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-08-07

ton OF the IroQuois, spoke dialects OF
the Lenape. When the Europeans
arrived in America, these Indians
were In possession OF all the eastern
coast of the country, from Virginia
to Nova Scotia; hence as we are told,
they were called WapanachN or Alb
nakis, meaning Men of the East, or
Eastlanders."
THE word generally received is
spelled Abnaki, but 1t should be Wan
banaghi from the Indian word wan
banban. designating the people OF
the Aurora Borealis. or in general
of the place where the sky commences
TO appear white at the breaking of
the day" Again. the work
Abnaki, spelt as 1t Is found in the
most ancient manuscripts, Abanaquis.
of the east" (Vol. VI Collections
of Maine Hist Sol.
The principal residence of these Alb
makes in Maine was at Norridge-
wock. The manuscript dictionary al
ready referred to, is a small quarto
volume in Father Rasles own hand
writing; and on the first leaf the
author has made the following note:
1881. 1t is now year since
have been among the savages, and
begin to set down in order. in the
form of a dictionary, the words
learn
In one of his letters he says.
1T was among these people. who
pass for the least rude Of all our saw
ages, that | went through my ap-
premiership as a missionary. My
principal occupation was to study
their language. 1t is very difficult
to learn, especially when we have
only savages for our teachers. They
have several letters which are sound
ed wholly from the throat, without
any motion of the lips.-'ou', for ex-
ample is one OF the number. / used
to spend part OF the day in their huts
to hear them talk. At length, after
five months, | accomplished so much
as to understand all their terms"
The following is quoted from the
Historical Society record
Being a Frenchman, he (Rasle)
naturally adopted the French alpha
bet, and az general rule the reader
will therefore pronounce the Abnaki
words as a Frenchman would. There
are however some sounds in the Ian
guage that are not known in French.
and for these he added certain char
acters .. to the common French
alphabet"
1t is not quite certain that we can
at this day determine what were the
precise sounds intended by these adj
ditional characters" In Rasle's list
of words. the English letter w" is
expressed by the French "ou,' as,
for example the word wigwam, I'm
dian for house or cabin which is
spelt "ouigouam' in the dictionary.
In the appendix we are told that
the nawe Sebasticook comes from Sa-
bats, we'll known Indian chief, and
that it is not Indian at all. but di-
rectly derived from the French. being
a corruption of ean-Baptiste pro-
nounced "Chebattis." BY adding the
Abnaki word cook, for place. we have
Sebasticook, or -Baptistes place.
The only Indian killed by the white
men in the Kennebec region after it
was settled was this same old chief
Sabattis, who was shot for stealing
goods from settlers cabin His
name or that of his father appears
among those of the Indian sachems
who signed the treaty of Wells, May
LIST. 1891. Eight chiefs signed this
document. each making his mark. all
of which are given in Vol. Il of the
Documentary History of Maine. Sa-
BATHS drew circle. Nonunke a
square. Kenowonet made a cross.
while Old Dony drew something
that dimly resembled a letter D. In
a history of Suncook, ~ H. we are
told that several Indians continued to
live within the town limits. PLAT
sawa was the name OF one also Sa-
BATHS, and Christie. If all these
various references to Sabattis indi-
Gated one and the same individual,
he must have been prominent and
much-travelled character.
Other amusing derivations are to
be found in the ancient collections
of the Historical Society.
According to the solemn deposition
of Captain William Lithgow of a
place called Fort Halifax. on the Ken
nebec" he swears that he has lived
on the kennebec River ever since the
year 174S till this present year, 1863,
and is we'll acquainted with the most
remarkable places on said river, by
inquir1ng of the Indians of the Nor
ridgewock tribe" Cobbessecontee
Stream, it seems. took its name from
the surgeons jumping at the mouth
of the river. An earlier version is
Cabbasseeconteag. or place where
surgeons are taken. In Rasle S
list sturgeon is rendered kabassa
tcontee).
In the Delaware language. also a
branch of the Lenape or Lenni-Lena-
pc tongue to which the Abnah be
longed. Kenebec meant they who
thanked; Kennebunk. where they
thanked; Ticonic. falls in the woods
Wiscasset. the good mans residence
Passamaquoddy meant too many
bears
Strangely enough the old name for
the Sandy River has not been pre-
served in the memory of the oldest in
habitant'
Pennington Falls. however WAS
known for years as Messee Coniep, "a
noted fishing place.
ELISE FELLOWS WHITE
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