Our Mission

At Abenaki Online, our mission is to make the western Abenaki language accessible to all. This site serves as a repository of useful materials to help in this ongoing language revival. It is a tool for all who wish to preserve and pass on the western Abenaki language.

Historically, in northeastern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts, southern and western Maine, and southeastern Quebec, Eastern Algonquian speaking communities along major rivers spoke various dialects, often adopting the rivers' names as their tribal identities, as in Missisquoi, Winooski, Nulhegan, and Saint Francis.

Despite periods of displacement, colonization, and significant pressure to assimilate, the western Abenaki language—distinct from eastern Abenaki (Penobscot, Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, and Mi'kmaq)—endured until the 20th century.

Western Abenaki preserves elements of Southern New England Algonquian grammar, and vocabulary from across the Northeast, reflecting generations of northern migration from the Connecticut River Valley. These migrations converged in various locations. In 1646 at the French Jesuit mission of Norridgewock, Maine; between 1676 and 1680, the Jesuit mission of Sillery, Quebec, then moving to the Chaudière River for two decades before finally establishing the communities of Odanak, on the Saint Francis River, in 1700, and Wôlinak at Becancour, in 1704; and at Schaghticoke, northeast of Albany, NY, between 1676 and the mid-18th century. Many of the remaining speakers, primarily Coosuk and Sokoki, maintained seasonal movements, traveling between Albany, Saratoga, and Lake George in New York; Missisquoi and Coos Counties in Vermont and New Hampshire; western Maine; and lower Canada.

This work would not have been possible without the support of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation and a National Archives Congressional Cultural Grant. We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this work. Together, we can ensure the western Abenaki language thrives for generations to come.