Alnôbak

Alternate Titles

• Androscoggin County, Maine - a pictorial sesquicentennial history, 1854-2004.

Description

The following review was submitted to a number of local resources at the time the book was published - therefore I believe there would be no commercial copyright on the review, so I am submitting it here. Review Alnôbak: A Story of Indigenous People in Androscoggin County Canyon Wolf, aka Nancy Lecompte, has moved us a giant step forward with her compilation of an accurate history of the Indians of Androscoggin County. As she notes, too much of the published material in town histories and the press is “pure fiction” based on myths and legends. Canyon Wolf carefully sifts through the published works, documents, and oral history to figure out as best she can the real history of Native Americans in the area. For example, the tales of the tragedy at Lewiston Falls are largely dismissed, but from the highly embellished accounts the author teases out the common kernels that suggest something did happen there, but probably in fairly prosaic circumstances. Similarly, we are warned that attempts to translate the anglicized “Indian names” such as Androscoggin are inherently suspect due to variations in dialect and the misunderstandings of white ears. Lecompte is the founder of [Ne-Do-Ba][1], an “organization devoted to exploring and sharing the Wabanaki history of Western Maine. As research director, she has been instrumental in gathering information for its education programs and web site. During her research, Canyon Wolf has had to contend, not only with myths from eras of no or poor written records, but also with the tendency of Indians to “pass for white” during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The traditional document sources of historical research simply did not record the Native connection of the persons involved. Many therefore believed and wrote that the Indians had disappeared. One of the major messages of Alnôbak is that they continue to live in the community, although most have only a fraction of Native ancestry. Canyon Wolf pieced together the stories of many events and people. Although she might have included more description of the cultural practices, she argues that only Wabanaki elders can teach these. The printed page cannot do this. Nevertheless, this limits to a very few the opportunity to learn and to attempt to understand. A broader audience is left with just the events, people, and artifacts. The text is supported throughout by illustrations, maps and charts and by a useful index. The colored photographs of baskets and other artifacts are attractive. The curious reader is encouraged to read further from a list of other resources for Wabanaki history and culture, as well as a detailed bibliography. This book is written in a style that makes it accessible and appropriate for youths as well as adults. Teachers at the high school and the advanced middle school levels undoubtedly will find Alnôbak useful for their students. All of us can learn a lot from this book published by the Androscoggin Historical Society. Douglas I. Hodgkin, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Bates College [1]: http://www.nedoba.org

Subjects

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