Passamaquoddy
Passamaquoddy men in a canoe
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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (3,576 enrolled tribal members Sipayik: 2,005, Motahkomikuk: 1,364, Qonasqamkuk: 206) |
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| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Passamaquoddy, English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Spirituality |
The Passamaquoddy (Peskotomuhkati or Pestomuhkati in the Passamaquoddy language) are an American Indian/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick. They live along the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay and the rivers that flow to it.
The name "Passamaquoddy" is an Anglicization of the Passamaquoddy word peskotomuhkati, the prenoun form (prenouns being a linguistic feature of Algonquian languages) of Peskotomuhkat (pestəmohkat), their autonym or name they applied to themselves. Peskotomuhkat literally means "pollock-spearer" or "those of the place where pollock are plentiful", reflecting the importance of this fish in their culture. Their method of fishing was spear-fishing rather than angling or using nets. Passamaquoddy Bay is shared by both New Brunswick and Maine; its name was derived by English settlers from the Passamaquoddy people.
The Passamaquoddy had a purely oral history before the arrival of Europeans. Among the Algonquian-speaking tribes of the loose Wabanaki Confederacy, they occupied coastal regions along the Bay of Fundy, Passamaquoddy Bay and Gulf of Maine, and along the St. Croix River and its tributaries. They had seasonal patterns of settlement. In the winter, they dispersed and hunted inland. In the summer, they gathered more closely together on the coast and islands, and primarily harvested seafood, including marine mammals, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish.
The Passamaquoddy were pushed off their original lands repeatedly by European settlers from the 17th century. After the United States achieved independence from Great Britain, these people were eventually officially limited to the current Indian Township Reservation, at 45°15′57″N 67°36′43″W / 45.26583°N 67.61194°W, in eastern Washington County, Maine. It has a land area of 96.994 km² (37.450 sq mi) and a 2000 census resident population of 676 persons. Passamaquoddy have also lived on off-reservation trust lands in five Maine counties; these lands total almost four times the size of the reservation proper. They are located in northern and western Somerset County, northern Franklin County, northeastern Hancock County, western Washington County, and several locations in eastern and western Penobscot County. The total land area of these areas is 373.888 km² (144.359 sq mi). As of the 2000 census, there were no residents on these trust lands.
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