Abenaki

American  

[uh-ben-uh-kee, ab-uh-nak-ee, ah-buh-nah-kee] / əˈbɛn ə ki, ˌæb əˈnæk i, ˌɑ bəˈnɑ ki /

noun

Abenakis, plural Abenaki plural

1. a member of a grouping of Indigenous peoples of southern Quebec, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and parts of northern Massachusetts.

2. any of the Eastern Algonquian languages of the Abenaki peoples.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Abenaki or their language.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Abenaki
  plural
• Abenakis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Abenaki

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French Abenaqui, Abenaki, from Eastern Abenaki ( Penobscot ) wapánahki or Western Abenaki wɔ̃banakii, literally, “people of the dawn land, easterners,” a self-designation

Example Sentences

The Abenaki Alliance told Fox News Digital that their people had inhabited the land that included Vermont for 12,000 years.

From Washington Times • Jul. 9, 2023

Michelle O’Bonsawin, an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation and a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, is set to fill the vacancy on the nation’s highest bench after a parliamentary hearing.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 19, 2022

Earl Hatley, a member of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, is one of the Indigenous activists frustrated with the Biden administration.

From Scientific American • Apr. 19, 2022

Allen and Benner, as they are called, have witnessed a string of inhabitants over the centuries, from the Abenaki people and English colonists to homesteading lobstermen.

From New York Times • Feb. 2, 2022

Meanwhile, the Wampanoag were rivals and enemies of the Narragansett and Pequots to the west and the many groups of Abenaki to the north.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann