Odanak is an

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

reserve in the Central Quebec region,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The mostly First Nations population as of the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

was 481. The territory is located near the mouth of the

Saint-François River The Saint-François River (, ) is a right tributary of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its source is Lake Saint-François in Chaudière-Appalaches, southeast of Thetford Mines. It flows southwest towards Sherbrooke, where it changes ...

at its confluence with the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

. It is partly within the limits of Pierreville and across the river from Saint-François-du-Lac. ''Odanak'' is an

word meaning "in the village".

History

Beginning about 1000 CE,

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages () are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving I ...

-speaking people settled along the

, where they practiced agriculture along with hunting and fishing. Archeological surveys have revealed that by 1300, they built fortified villages similar to those seen and described by

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

in the mid-16th century, when he visited Hochelaga and

Stadacona Stadacona was a 16th-century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village not far from where Quebec City was founded in 1608. History French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, while travelling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached the village ...

. However, by 1600, the villages and people were gone. Since the 1950s, historians and anthropologists have used archeological and linguistic evidence to develop a consensus that the people formed a distinct ethnic group, whom they have called St. Lawrence Iroquoians. They spoke Laurentian and were separate from the powerful

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

of nations that developed in present-day

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

along the southern edges of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

.James F. Pendergast. (1998). "The Confusing Identities Attributed to Stadacona and Hochelaga"
''Journal of Canadian Studies'', Volume 32, pp. 149-156, accessed 3 Feb 2010 Their disappearance by 1600 is believed to be due to attacks and decimation from the

Mohawk people The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the ...

of the Iroquois Confederacy; they stood to gain the most by getting control of the hunting grounds along the St. Lawrence River and dominating the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

route on the river above

Tadoussac Tadoussac () is a village municipality in La Haute-Côte-Nord RCM (Regional County Municipality), on the north shore of the maritime section of the estuary of St. Lawrence river, in Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. Geography Tadoussac is ...

, which was under

Montagnais The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for 'mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to t ...

control. By the time of

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

's arrival, the St. Lawrence River Valley was essentially uninhabited; the Mohawk reserved it for use as hunting grounds and as a path for war parties. As French Missionary, missionaries worked in present-day

and central-western New York with native peoples in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they established mission villages for converted natives near the colonial towns of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The

who converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

were allied with the French. Evidence supports the tradition that St. Francis was first occupied by the Sokoki (''Ozogwakiakas'' in Abenaki) as early as 1660, with as many as twenty families; the earliest Sokoki baptism recorded in the area was nearby in Trois-Rivières in 1658. The Sokoki were a band or tribe within the larger Abenaki group. Central

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

was formerly inhabited by people of the

Androscoggin people The Androscoggin (Ammoscongon) 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. Name The name of the Androscoggin is derived from an anglicizati ...

, also known as Arosaguntacook. The Androscoggin were a tribe in the Abenaki nation. They were driven out of the area by Europeans in 1690 sometime after

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

(1675–1676). They were relocated west at St. Francis, Canada. During the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

(the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

), this settlement was destroyed and burnt by

Rogers' Rangers Rogers' Rangers was a company of soldiers from the Province of New Hampshire raised by Major Robert Rogers and attached to the British Army during the French and Indian War. The unit was quickly adopted into the New England Colonies army as an i ...

in 1759. The Abenaki and some St. Francis residents participated in raids against English settlements. These were sometimes organized by

Sébastien Rale Sébastien Rale (; also Racle, Râle, Rasle, Rasles, and Sebastian Rale; January 20, 1657 – August 23, 1724) was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who preached amongst the Abenaki and encouraged their resistanc ...

and Abenaki chief Grey Lock in

Dummer's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) (also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War) was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the Wab ...

along the frontiers of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

in the early 18th century. Other Abenaki tribes suffered several severe defeats in reprisal during Father Rale's War, particularly the capture of

Norridgewock Norridgewock (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Nanrantsouak'') was the name of both an Indigenous village and a Band society, band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans/First Nations in Canada, ...

in 1724 and the defeat of the

Pequawket The Pequawket were a Native American band of Abenaki people. In the 18th century, they lived in New Hampshire and Maine. Territory The Pequawket lived near the headwaters of the Saco River and near what is now Carroll County, New Hampshire a ...

in 1725, which greatly reduced their numbers. Odanak was first established in the year 1700. While traveling along the banks of the St. François River the Jesuit Priest Jacques Bigot made the decision to relocate the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission "La Mission de Saint François de Sale" that was established in 1684 at the mouth of the Chaudière River to the banks of the St. François River following years of successive crop failure due to agricultural overexploitation. The new mission was to be established in close proximity to a small village of both Abenaki and Sokokis that Bigot had previously observed during his travels throughout the region in the winter of 1684–1685. At the request of the Governor General of New France Louis-Hector de Callière and the Intendant

Jean Bochart de Champigny Jean Bochart de Champigny, Sieur de Noroy et de Verneuil (; 1643–September 27, 1720), was Intendant of New France from 1686 to 1702. His mandate was one of the longest, rivalling those of Hocquart and Bégon. He served as intendant during the ...

, Marguerite Hertel the widow of Jean Crevier de Saint-François and her son Joseph Crevier granted one "demi lieu" of land from their seigneury to the Abenakis which was accepted on behalf of Bigot on which the new mission was to be constructed. In 1704, the King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

ordered the King's Engineer, Levasseur De Néré to draw up a plan in order fortify the Jesuit mission during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

to provide protection for the families of the Abenaki and Sokoki warriors who had sided with the French against the English and the Iroquois during the war and in prior conflicts. Governor Callière subsequently ordered the construction of defensive features such as redoubts and a 4.7 m high palisade that was to be reinforced with stone bastions. During this war, Abenaki warriors were involved in numerous raids and conflicts such as the infamous

Deerfield Raid The Raid on Deerfield, also known as the Deerfield Massacre, occurred during Queen Anne's War on February 29, 1704, when French and Native American raiders under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville attacked the English colonial se ...

of 29 February 1704 in which 112 English captives were taken. In 1706, the village was moved from its original location on the north-eastern bank of the St. François River downstream, near the current location of Pierreville in order to accommodate a growing population. In the summer of 1711, Odanak was temporarily abandoned due to the threats posed by Admiral

Hovenden Walker Rear-Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker (1656 or 1666 – 1725 or 1728) was a British naval officer noted for, during Queen Anne's War, having led an abortive 1711 expedition against Quebec City, then the capital of New France. Early career Walker ...

's and Colonel

Francis Nicholson Lieutenant-General Francis Nicholson (12 November 1655 – ) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. He previously was the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1712 to 1715, ...

's planned assault on Quebec City. The male Abenaki warriors of the village were called up to Quebec to take part in the defence of the city while the woman and children were temporarily relocated to

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

and Montreal. Following the failure and withdrawal of Admiral Walker's fleet, the Abenaki would once again return to Odanak. In 1715, the village would be relocated once more. This time moving further downstream to the site of its current location situated high upon the bank of the St. François River to protect against seasonal flooding. Following the conclusion of Dummer's War in 1725, Odanak would be further reinforced by the arrival of a contingent of 300 Abenaki warriors and their families from the Narransouac and Pentagouet missions in Maine. On 4 October 1759, Odanak was sacked and destroyed by a contingent of 200 men under the command of Major Robert Rogers. Rogers was ordered by

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the ...

to seek retaliation for numerous raids and attacks perpetrated by Abenaki warriors on British settlements. Rogers was able to take advantage of the absence of the majority of Abenaki warriors who were serving under the command of French General Montcalm in the defense of Quebec City. Rogers men subsequently destroyed and set fire to entirety of the village destroying the mission's records and archives. Casualty estimates from this attack vary considerably depending on the accounts with Roger's claiming 200 dead and 20 captives (both women and children) while French accounts claim 30 dead, 20 of whom were identified as being women and children. This would mark the last major event that took place during the era of New France.

Demographics

Population

Population estimates prior to 1759 are difficult due to the loss of records associated with the raid conducted by Major Rogers on 4 October 1759. Population trend:

Language

Mother tongue language (2021)2021 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Odanak
/ref>

Arts and culture

Odanak is the site of the ''Musée des Abénakis'' (Abenaki Museum), dedicated to the history, culture, and art of the Western Abenaki people.

Alanis Obomsawin Alanis Obomsawin, (born August 31, 1932) is an Abenaki people, Abenaki American Canadian, American-Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised prima ...

(Abenaki), is a

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

who grew up in Odanak. Her documentary, ''Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises'' (2006) is a tribute to the people of St. Francis. Her most recent documentary film '' Gene Boy Came Home'' (2007) tells the story of Eugene "Gene Boy" Benedict. He was raised in Odanak. As a young man, he fought in the US Marine Corps against the North Vietnamese in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

before returning to his home village.

Education

In 2011, the only First Nations

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; , ; also written CÉGEP and cegep) is a publicly funded college providing general, professional, academic or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, it ori ...

in Québec opened its doors in Odanak.

Notable people

(born 1932), filmmaker, musician, singer * Christine Sioui-Wawanoloath, writer and artist living in Quebec * Elijah Tahamont (1855–1918), silent film actor Dark Cloud * Alexis Wawanoloath, member of

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

Michelle O'Bonsawin Michelle O'Bonsawin (born May 2, 1974) is a Canadian jurist who is serving as a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada since 2022. Before her appointment to the Supreme Court, she served as a judge on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ...

, first Indigenous Supreme Court Justice in Canadian history * Mali Obomsawin, musician, community organizer

References

External links

Conseil des Abénakis d'Odanak
official website
Waban-Aki Nation, Quebec
*
Abenaki Museum, Odanak, Quebec

Map of Odanak (Google Maps)
{{Authority control Indian reserves in Quebec Communities in Centre-du-Québec Abenaki communities