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

Ms. Obomsawin, 90, is a member of the Abenaki Nation and grew up in Quebec.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 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

Tribes that have practiced the art form include some Algonquin peoples of the Great Lakes parts of Canada and the United States, Ojibwe, Pottawatomi, Abenaki, Odawa, Chippewa and some groups of Cree.

From Washington Post • Aug. 30, 2021

It was on the same continent as Patuxet, but between them were a thousand miles of rocky coastline and the Mi’kmag and Abenaki alliances, which were at war with one another.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann