THE KENNEBEC VALLEY- The Kennebec Indian S. H. Whitney 1887 Augusta: Sprague, Burleigh & Flynt, Printers to the State. 1887 pages 5-12 The Kennebec Indian. When the valley up the Kennebec was first explored it was inhabited by a tribe of In- dians known as the Kennebis. The ruler of this great tribe lived upon Little Swan Island, a small island in the Ken- nebec River, between Richmond and Dres- den. He bore the title of Bashaba, and from him or his ancestors the river and tribe received their name. It appears that the abode of this great chief- tain was strongly fortified. The ruins of this fortress may be seen to-day. It was built in a circular form, with the entrance from the north, which was probably an underground passage. The Kennebecs were divided into four sub- ordinate tribes, each family being subject to a chief, who in turn paid fealty to the Bashaba, who looked upon as the supreme ruler. The territory in the Kennebec valley was divided by the Bashaba as follows: The Sagadahocs were given the territory lying between Merry-Meeting Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The Cussenockes dewlt in the Vicinity of Augusta. The Tacconets possessed and occupied the fertile region that is watered by the Sebasticook, a tribut- tary of the Kennebec, and the Norridge- wogs met in council in the sacred vale of Norridgewock. Those families applied sep- arate names to the river as it flowed through those different localities. The Kennebec River between Merry-Meeting Bay and the ocean was called Sagadahoc, the tribe of the same name dwelling upon it shores. The river between Merry Meeting Bay and Skowhegan Falls bore the name of their acknowledged ruler who dwelt upon Swan Island. Between Skowhegan and Solon the river bore the name of Aruntsook, and from the falls at Solon to Moose Head Lake it was called Carratunk. This leak, which is the fountain of the river was call Cerbon, a word signifying "great waters." Sebastian Rale, who was a missionary among the Kennebec Indians for over a quarter of a century, gives the following de- scription of them: "Their cabins were made by planting a center pole and covering it with bark; the fire in the middle of the ground, and their beds and chairs were mats made of reeds, spread upon the earth. The men dressed in the skins of animals or in loose robes of red or blue cloth, and the women wore a mantle, reaching to the middle of the leg, very grace- fully arranged with a light covering thrown over the head and falling to the feet, and stockings from the knee to the ankle. Their moccasins were of deer-skin. In the winter they wore snow-shoes, without which they could not subsist. With them they were able to over take the swiftest animals. They were tall, powerful and active, with teeth whiter than ivory. Their only ornaments were beads made of shell, white and black, so arranged in belts and the like, as to repre- sent different figures with great beauty. Their children were regarded with the greatest af- fection and the utmost respect was manifest toward the aged. Their skill with the bow was great; even children could shook with astonishing accuracy. They ate with great irregularity; feasted upon the best one day and famished the next. Tabacco was used by all and esteemed the greatest luxury. They were less barbarous than the other tribes." ---HANSON. History of Norridgewock. Although the early settlers in the Kenne- bec valley suffered much from the hostilities of the natives, the instance has yet to be re- corded were the Kennebec Indian was the first aggressor. When this region was first explored by the whites there were several Indian villages in it. Rale writes of the one in which he estab- lished a mission, " The village in which I live is called Narantsouak. * * * The river which flows trough my mission is the largest of all those which water the territories of the Indians. It should be marked upon the maps by the name of Kinibiki. * * * This river empties into the bay of Sankderank." --HANSON. History of Norridgewock. We will give a brief description of the In- dian village. It was situated upon the eastern bank of the river, in the southwestern part of the town of Madison. The river circumscribed it upon the west, and was protected by a back- ground of forest-crowned hills. A common road skirted the bank of the river. The wigwams were erected in two parallel rows, leaving a space between them which was used for a street. This street ran north and south. At the northern end of the street stood a chapel, in which the inhabitants of the village assembled for worship. At the south- ern end of the street was a building which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Whittier has described their manner of worship thus: "On the brow of a hill, which slopes to meet The flowing river, and bathe its feet, The bare-washed rock and the drooping grass, And the creeping vines as the waters pass, --- A rude and unshapely chapel stands, Built up in that wild by unskilled hands; Yet, the traveller knows it a place of prayer, For the holy sign of the cross is there; And should he chance at that place to be, Of a Sabbath morn, or some hallowed day When prayers are made and masses are said, Some for the living, and some for the dead, Well might the traveller start to see The tall, dark forms that take their way, From the birch canoe on the river shore, And the forest paths to that chapel door; And marvel to mark the naked knees And the dusky foreheads bending there, -- And stretching his long, thin arms over these, -- In blessing and in prayer, Like a shrouded spectre, pale and tall, In his coarse white vesture, Father Ralle." --HANSON. History of Norridgewock. Sebastian Rale dwelt among the Indians for nearly half a century. He made his home, while in the Kennebec valley, at Narantsouak, and in this Indian village, surrounded by the natives of the forest, he fell in the cold em- brace of death. The following lines have been composed as a token to his memory. Within Bombazeen's mournful sound, By the side of the crystal wave, In the vale of Narantsouak, There lies a lonely grave; A monument marks that sepulchre, The white man place it o'er; For an Indian brave upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there. As the whites began to flock in and people the fertile shores of the Kennebec River, the Indian was compelled to retreat from before them. The rich lands were purchased of the In- dians for mere trifles, and they were driven from their hunting grounds. The Bashaba was obliged to vacate his seat upon Swan Island, the Indian village at Augusta was deserted, and the Tacconets were relentlessly driven from the teeming slopes of the Sebasticook. E'er a century had elapsed, three families of the once powerful Kennebec tribe were driven from the valley. The weakened remnant gathered within the sacred vale of Narantsouak and requested of the English permission to dwell in the northern portion of the valley of the Kennebec. The English would not grant this request, and in August 1724, the last of the Kennebec tribe was driven from the valley. Alas! for them--their day is o'er, Their fires are out from hill to shore; No more for them the wild deer bounds; The plow is on their hunting grounds; The pale man's axe rings through their woods, The pale man's sail skims o'er their floods. The prominent sachems in those Indian tribes were as follows: The Bashaba, whose abode was upon Swan Island, and to whom all the sachems of each family yielded obedience. Robinhood was a distinguished sachem in the Sagadahoc family; his abode was upon the eastern bank of the river in the town of Woolwich. He was ever a friend to the whites. Abbigadassett was a sachem in the Cus- senocke family; he dwelt in Bowdoinham. Assiminasqua dwelt at Waterville, and was the chief speaker in the Kennebec councils Bombazeen, for whom the rapids above Nor- ridgewock were named, was a bold sachem in the Norridgewog family. This ends the brief history of a tribe whose annals if complete would present one of the most interesting stories of ancient or modern days. 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