Description
The Androscoggin (Ammoscocongon) were an Abenaki people from what are now the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire. By the 18th century, they were absorbed by neighboring tribes. The name of the Androscoggin is derived from an anglicization of the Abenaki-language term Ammoscocongon, which was the name given for the portion of the Androscoggin river from Lewiston Falls northward, as stated by Pere Pole in 1793. The Arosaguntacook or Arossagunticook people in the Eastern Abenaki language means "Rocky Flats flow" or "a river of rocks refuge." Other recorded variations of the name are Amariscoggin, Ameriscoggin, Asschincantecook, Arossagunticook, Alessikantek-eyak by the Penobscot and the Cowasuck.
Language
Abenaki, also known as Wôbanakiak, is an endangered Eastern Algonquian language of Quebec and the northern states of New England. The language has Eastern and Western forms which differ in vocabulary and phonology and are sometimes considered distinct languages.
Culture
During the spring hunt, beaver and muskrat were trapped, fish were caught, and salmon were speared. Corn, beans and pumpkins were planted, using fertilizer. In the summer, the Indians traveled south to the sea, harvesting its bounty to be eaten, or dried and packed away in birchbark boxes. Acorns were ground, feathers gathered, seals, porpoises and even whales hunted. Berries were picked and dried, roots dug, eels caught. In the fall came the harvest, and the hunt for furs. Winter was spent inland, sheltered by wigwams, making garments, baskets, and other articles, and in hunting large game for fresh meat. Increasing contact with white trappers and settlers, and trips to the missions in Canada, brought the opportunity to trade for implements, weapons, and woven fabrics.