Penobscot Indian Island Reservation
Indian Island
Álənαpe Mə́nəhan | |
---|---|
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation | |
Tribe | Penobscot |
Country | United States |
State | Maine |
County | Penobscot |
Government | |
• Type | Tribal Council |
• Chief | Kirk Francis |
• Vice Chief | Mark Sockbeson |
• Council Members | Claudia Cummings Awendela Dana Saul Dana Nicole Fields Christopher B. Francis Lee Ann Francis Jennifer Galipeau Kyle Loar Lisa Montgomery John Neptune Jason Pardilla Craig Sanborn |
Area | |
• Total | 57.0 km2 (22.0 sq mi) |
• Land | 19.5 km2 (7.5 sq mi) |
• Water | 37.4 km2 (14.4 sq mi) 65.7% |
Elevation | 44 m (145 ft) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 758 |
• Density | 13/km2 (34/sq mi) |
Time zone | EST |
Website | https://www.penobscotnation.org |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1900 | 269 | — | |
1910 | 320 | 19.0% | |
1950 | 323 | — | |
1960 | 383 | 18.6% | |
1970 | 317 | −17.2% | |
1980 | 458 | 44.5% | |
1990 | 476 | 3.9% | |
2000 | 562 | 18.1% | |
2010 | 610 | 8.5% | |
2020 | 758 | 24.3% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[1] |
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation (
Government
The Penobscot Tribe of Maine is headquartered in Indian Island, Maine. The tribal chief is Kirk Francis.[2] The vice-chief is Mark Sockbeson.
History
The
King William's War
There were tensions on the border between New England and Acadia, which New France defined as reaching the Kennebec River in southern Maine.[4] English settlers from Massachusetts (whose charter included the Maine area) had expanded their settlements into Acadia. To secure New France's claim to present-day Maine, New France established Catholic missions among the three largest native villages in the region: one on the Kennebec River (Norridgewock); one farther north on the Penobscot River (Penobscot) and one on the Saint John River (Medoctec).[5][6] For their part, in response to King Philip's War, the five Indian tribes in the region of Acadia created the Wabanaki Confederacy to form a political and military alliance with New France to stop the New England expansion.[7]
On Abbé Petit's advice, Father
Raid on Penobscot (1692)
Benjamin Church's third expedition to Acadia during the war was in 1692 when he conducted a retaliatory raid with 450 men against the Penobscot village.[8]
Two years later, Thury worked to thwart the actions of Phips, who wanted to keep the Abenaki neutral; Thury played an important role in retaining them under French influence. He took part in the attack against Pescadouet (Oyster Bay) in New Hampshire, and was present with Robinau de Villebon and a party of Abenaki at the capture of Pemaquid by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1696. The bishop of Quebec made him his vicar general in 1698 and appointed him to be the superior of the missions in Acadia.[9]
Father Rale's War
Raid on Thomaston (1722)
On 15 July 1722, Father Lauverjat from Penobscot led 500-600 natives from Penobscot and Medunic (
Raid on Penobscot (1723)
During
Starting in 1775, Condeskeag became the site of treaty negotiations by which the Penobscot people were made to give up almost all their ancestral lands, a process complete by about 1820, when
Tourism
The reservation is home to a small museum. Penobscot High Stakes Bingo, which operated from 1973 until 2015,
Notable residents
- Major League Baseball player Louis Francis "Chief" Sockalexis (Cleveland Spiders outfielder, 1897–1899, career batting average .313) was born on the reservation and is buried at St. Anne Church Cemetery.
- Michael Pehrson
- Sherri Mitchell, author and attorney
- ssipsis, a writer who grew up on the reservation
- June Sapiel, activist
- Molly Spotted Elk, dancer, actress, and writer
- Maulian Bryant, Tribal Ambassador
- Morgan Talty, writer
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Indian reservation has a total area of 22.0 square miles (57.0 km2). 7.5 square miles (19.5 km2) of it is land and 14.4 square miles (37.4 km2) of it (65.70%) is water.[16]
Demographics
Languages (2000) [17] | Percent |
---|---|
Spoke English at home | 92.71% |
Spoke Abenaki at home | 7.29% |
As of the
There were 214 households, out of which 44.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living together, 25.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.97.
In the Indian reservation the population was spread out, with 33.3% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.
The median income for a household in the Indian reservation was $24,653, and the median income for a family was $24,000. Males had a median income of $34,500 versus $23,194 for females. The
In popular culture
The climax of the 1825 novel Brother Jonathan by Maine native John Neal is set on Indian Island during the American Revolutionary War. The novel features a protagonist of mixed Penobscot-English descent and describes the island as "the last encampment of the Penobscot Red men".[19]
Notes
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ a b "Tribal Directory." National Congress of American Indians. Retrieved 30 Aug 2012.
- ^
Fischer, David Hackett (2009). Champlain's Dream. Simon and Schuster. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-1-4165-9333-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7735-2699-0.; Campbell, Gary. The Road to Canada: The Grand Communications Route from Saint John to Quebec. Goose Lane Editions and The New Brunswick Heritage Military Project. 2005. p. 21.
- ^ "Meductic Indian Village / Fort Meductic National Historic Site of Canada". Parks Canada. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ John Grenier, The Far Reaches of Empire. University of Oklahoma Press, 2008, p. 51, p. 54.
- ^ "Wabanaki". Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
- ^ The History of the Great Indian War of 1675 and 1676, commonly called Philip ... by Benjamin Church, Thomas Church, Samuel Gardner Drake, p.212
- ^ THURY, LOUIS-PIERRE, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- ^ Wheeler, p. 14
- ^ Grenier, p. 59; William Williamson, p. 115; Also see History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine: from ..., Volume 1, by Cyrus Eaton, p. 30, and Grenier, 2008, p. 56
- ^ Wheeler, p. 13
- ^ (William Williamson, p. 120)
- ^ "The Ancient Penobscot, or Panawanskek", John E. Godfrey, Retrieved June 20, 2008
- ^ Caitlin Andrews (2020-02-19). "Tribal gaming rights opposed by Bangor casino in debate over sovereignty overhaul". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, Penobscot County, Maine". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "Data Center Results".
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- OCLC 7588473.
References
- History of Castine, Penobscot, and Brooksville, Maine including the ancient settlement of Pentagoet. By George Augustus Wheeler. Published 1875.
- Matteo Binasco. "Few, Uncooperative, and Endangered: The Troubled Activity of the Roman Catholic missionaries in Acadia (1610-1710)", in Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, Journal, vol.10 (2007), pp. 147–162.