People of the Beautiful River: the Maliseet

This Algonquian-speaking tribe were part of the Wabanaki Confederacy along with the Abenaki, Mikmaq, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy.  Their home range was the St. John River Valley in what is now New Brunswick and Canada and portions of Maine.  Their name for the river, Wolastoq means, Beautiful River, and the tribe's name for themselves, Wolastogiyik means People of the Beautiful River.  The more common name, Maliseet, was a reference by the Mikmaq, which referred to People Who Speak Differently, the two tribes speaking different forms of Algonquian dialect.

Like other Algonquian tribes, the Maliseet practiced agriculture supplemented by hunting and gathering.  They established trading relations with the French for beaver furs, and many Maliseet people learned to speak French and converted to Christianity.  Disease took its toll on the Maliseet, and the various colonial and trade wars were also destructive.  However, as beaver supplies dwindled, the Maliseet turned their attention more and more to farming.  By doing so, they were able to retain much of their traditional homeland.  The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians was one of the first tribes to sign a treaty with the new United States government and is today a federally recognized tribe.