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

See Examples For:

Abenaki Abenakis

The state of Vermont recognizes four tribes that are descended from the Abenaki people, including the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 9, 2023

Museum officials have consulted on the project with the leaders of the four bands of the state-recognized Abenaki tribes in Vermont.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023

Her win follows changes to the organization’s policies, including the acknowledgment that the residency program takes place on First Nations land, home of the Western Abenaki people.

From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2023

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

All three test results were identical, saying that they had 12 percent Abenaki and 8 percent Mohawk ancestry—even the dog!

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

There were also Nipmuck towns between Boston and the Connecticut River Valley, and the Abenakis held most of inland Maine.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

I thought about the First Nation Abenakis, how they named the lakes and rivers, and about our ignorance.

From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2017

As the hostile army marched through the country of the Abenakis, numbers of them joined it.

From The Witch of Salem or Credulity Run Mad by F. A. (Freeland A.) Carter

It was to New England, and to the Abenakis, what Fort Frontenac was to Canada and to the Iroquois, an advanced post covering the English colonies and menacing the Indians.

From A Historical Geography of the British Colonies Vol. V, Canada—Part I, Historical by Charles Prestwood Lucas

There was nothing for it but to set on the Abenakis to fight for them.

From A Half Century of Conflict - Volume I France and England in North America by Francis Parkman