Wabanaki Studies > Wabanaki Lessons

Mapping the Wabanakis

Lessons and Resources

There are numerous ways in which the location of Wabanaki ancestral lands and modern lands can be introduced into the Middle School curriculum. The resources below will give teachers several alternatives.

Maps	MPBN lesson
Mapping with Words	Seasonal Migration
Mapping Maine by Heart	Abbe Museum Lesson

Maps

Blank outline map of Maine

• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/maine/outline/ - Enchanted Learning map with major rivers
• http://www.netstate.com/states/maps/images/me_outline.gif
• http://geography.about.com/library/blank/me.jpg - smaller outline map

Maine political map (road maps would be preferable)

• http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/maine_90.jpg - color, counties, many geographical features, some cities
• http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/maine.gif - outline map, counties only
• Shaded relief map (.pdf) - download from http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/us_2001/maine_ref_2001.jpg
• 1799 Surveyor's map showing townships
• The current edition of The Maine Atlas has an invaluable map showing township divisions

Indian Lands

• Federal Lands and Indian Reservations (.pdf) - download from: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/fed_lands_2003/maine_2003.pdf
• FEMA – Region I – Federally Recognized Indian Reservations (black & white: .jpg or color: .pdf)
• The Wabanakis of Maine & the Maritimes:
  • Native Territories in 1590, D-4
  • Native Territories in 1700, D-5
  • Wabanaki Reservations and Reserves of 1988 - D-16
• Indian Reservations - MPBN - http://www.mpbn.net/homestom/timelines/moreinfo/reservmap.html
• Maine Indians Before European Settlement - MPBN - http://www.mpbn.net/homestom/timelines/moreinfo/beforemap.html
• Norumbega Reconsidered: Maps (link downloads a .pdf file - 7mb) - many early maps of Indian Territories, including Penobscot Tribe Map - http://www.davistownmuseum.org/PDFs/NorumbegaReconsideredMapAppendix.pdf
• Peoples Distribution Maps - maps pre and post 1600 - http://www.snowwowl.com/peopleabenaki.html - site includes a timeline
• The Wabanaki Tribes of Maine - Abbe Museum map - http://abbemuseum.org/wabanaki.html
• Passamaquoddy Ancestral Territory - http://www.wabanaki.com/homeland11.htm
• Passamaquoddy Trust Lands - http://www.wabanaki.com/trust_lands.htm or .jpg
• Tree & Tradition: Tribal Map – Hudson Museum map with short descriptions – from http://www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum/tree4.htm
• Indian Peoples of the Dawnland (locations pre-Contact) – Maine and the Maritimes – http://www.nctc.com/~cheyanne/page7b.html
• Historical Maps of Maine - http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/maine/index.html

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MPBN Lesson to which mapping is central:

"A Part of the Main" - European Settlement of the Mainland – Lesson 2: Mapping With Words – online at: http://www.mpbn.net/homestom/prog2less2.html - to accompany Program 2 of HOME: the Story of Maine. 
The video can be borrowed through your library. The lesson has several parts comprising Place Names, a mapping activity, and guided viewing of the video. The lesson is aligned to Maine Learning Results.

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Mapping in Words - a lesson plan from Maine Memories in to support the text Finding Katahdin - link downloads or views a .pdf file - http://www.mainememory.net/pdf_files/FK-MMN-1-4.pdf
The lesson is focused upon the concept of mapping, rather than upon the locations of the Wabanaki tribes.

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Seasonal Migration - This topic can be addressed in many ways. Here are some suggestions:

1. Accompanying a study of Wabanaki calendars (see The Wabanakis of Maine & the Maritimes, D-24 to D-27), students might map the seasonal movement of the Penobscots and/or other Wabanakis. Before the activity, students should either read or be lectured briefly about the varying degrees of agriculture and settlement - see The Wabanakis of Maine & the Maritimes, A-5 and D-47. Students should also understand that the abundance of resources declined steadily after European contact. They should look at the maps of ancestral lands and current reservations, trust lands and settlements. How has reservation life changed this seasonal cycle? It is also important that students understand that seasonal travel is part of contemporary as well. Briefly discuss how this is true for: holidays, tourism, migrant workers, schooling, medical needs and jobs. My Seasonal Migration activity addresses these questions. It is based upon a Penobscot oral history.
2. Read "A Micmac Woman Speaks to her Daughter" - The Wabanakis of Maine & the Maritimes, C-27. Discuss:
   • Why did the family move from place to place?
   • How did they travel?
   • Describe their dwellings.
   • What activities did the family members do upon arrival?
3. Lesson 5 of the Passamaquoddy Teaching Kit contains background information that addresses the lack of need for seasonal migration. Students should be made aware that there were tribal and geographical differences in seasonal activities.

Elizabeth Sky-McIlvain
Updated 8/7/07