HomeHome

Home

The Historical Records of Indians in the Far Northeast – Digital Atlas (HRIFNE-DA) provides comprehensive access to references about Indigenous individuals who lived in northeastern North America between 1600 and 1850. This searchable database represents four decades of research conducted in archives throughout North America, England, and France.

About the Database

HRIFNE-DA focuses on documented mentions of Indigenous individuals from the era when European contact and settlement began (around 1600) to the mid-19th century (around 1850). While not completely exhaustive, the database captures the majority of such historical references and organizes them in a searchable format that enhances our understanding of the region's Indigenous population.

The database is structured around individual mentions from historical records, categorized to support different research interests including:

Land transfers
Vital records (births, deaths, marriages)
Significant life events
Community relationships

These data can be examined alongside a timeline of external events that impacted Indigenous peoples across the region, such as:

European wars
Disease epidemics
Missionary activities

Key Features

Mapping Interface: Visualizes locations where events took place, including residences, significant life events, treaty signings, and more
Image Collection: Provides links to images related to specific individuals and places, viewable in larger formats and downloadable for other uses
Multiple View Options: Data can be viewed in Table View or Index View to suit different research approaches

How to Navigate the Database

Table View

The Table View presents data as "items," each relating to an individual mentioned in a historical document. Each item includes:

The event date
Location
The individual's place of residence
Family relationships
Source documentation

From Table View, you can access:

Events: Listed alphabetically with dates in mm/dd/year format. Clicking on an individual event shows all people associated with that event.
Persons: A complete list of all individuals in the database. Clicking on a person shows all information related to them.
Person with Family: Reveals all individuals whose relatives were recorded, including when and where this information was documented.
Manuscripts: A list of the 837 sources cited in the database.
Images: A collection of all images in the database.

Index View

Index View is particularly useful for exploring relationships between items in the database. Clicking on "Person" shows all individuals, ranging from those mentioned only once (e.g., Ababich) to those with numerous mentions (e.g., Madocakwando with 136 mentions).

Understanding the Naming System

The database addresses the challenges of identifying individuals across different naming patterns and recording practices by using three name categories:

Standard Name (STDNAME): A standardized version of the name
Unique ID (UNIQUE ID): A specific identifier for each individual
Manuscript Name (MS NAME): The name as it originally appeared in the historical record
Alias: When available, alternative names or sobriquets used for the individual

The database acknowledges several naming pattern challenges:

Indigenous naming traditions in the region typically used unique mononyms (e.g., Membertou, Squando)
Some mononyms were adopted by individuals in later generations
Many individuals eventually adopted European naming patterns
Francophone names pose particular difficulties due to the limited number of baptismal names used frequently and to the common use of double names (e.g. Marie Madeleine, Jean Baptiste).
Name changes over a lifetime, particularly for women who might be recorded under father's or husband's names

Location Information

Most records contain location information, categorized as:

Place Vital: Places of residence
Place Event: Places where specific events occurred

When used together with Person data, these locations can help track the life trajectories of individuals. For example, James Speen was primarily identified as a resident of Natick, Massachusetts, but also appears in records from three other settlements.

Additional Data Categories

Alias

Includes secondary names, sobriquets, and contextual names that help identify when different names refer to the same person. Examples include:

Robinhood/Robin Hood, also called Mohotowormet
Poquanum, also known as Black William or Black Will
Molly Molasses, baptized as Marie Pelagie
Moliocket, baptized as Marie Agathe

Ethnicity

Attributed based on information in the original sources. Some individuals were associated with different groups over time. For example, Madockawando was most often referred to as Penobscot, but during the 1690s was called a Maliseet.

Kinship

Records relationship types and specific connections between individuals. The database notes that kinship terms in historical records (cousin, uncle, etc.) may not have had the same meaning in Indigenous cultures as in modern terminology.

Research Applications

The HRIFNE-DA database supports various research approaches:

1. Studying Specific Categories of Records

Events are subdivided into categories to support focused research:

Vital Records: Births, deaths, baptisms, marriages
Community Composition: Census data and provision lists
Conflict and Diplomacy: War participation and peace negotiations
Legal and Land Records: Property transfers between Indigenous people and settlers

2. Assessing Historical Significance of Individuals

The number of mentions can indicate an individual's historical impact. Notable examples:

The Waban family appears in 125 mentions in early Massachusetts records.

Madockawando has 72 mentions in Maine records.

Samuel Gill, a New England captive adopted into the Odanak community in Quebec, along with his descendants, appears in 969 mentions, showing their prominent role in this Indigenous community.

Less frequently mentioned individuals can also reveal fascinating historical connections:

Nescombewet: Born near Lake Sebago, Maine, he served as chief sagamore of the Amasocontee village, lived with the Fox Indians in the Great Lakes region, fought alongside Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in Newfoundland, and gained an audience with French King Louis XIV.

The Saint Aubin brothers: Sons of a European settler who married Maliseet women, with Ambroise becoming a prominent sagamore and Charles establishing a lineage at Wolinak, Quebec.

3. Defining Spheres of Activity

The database reveals how individuals navigated between English and French colonial influences:

Sheepscot John: Initially a follower of the Massachusetts Protestant missionary John Eliot, he later shifted eastward through several locations including Casco Bay, the Kennebec River, the Sheepscot River, and finally the Penobscot area. His connections and English language skills gave him diplomatic influence.

Derumkin (Sagamore John): Known for granting deeds to English settlers in the lower Kennebec area, he maintained peaceful relations with Europeans during periods of conflict. Despite appearing to operate within English colonial spheres, vital records for his children appear in parish records in Quebec and Acadia.

4. Women of Historical Significance

While men dominate the historical record, several notable women emerge:

Squaw Sachem: Widow of Nanapeshamet, she held title to and sold many large tracts north and east of Boston in the early 17th century
Molly Molasses (Marie Ursule): A Penobscot woman prominent in 19th century tribal affairs and the Old Town community
Moliocket (Marie Agathe): An Abenaki herbal doctor who traveled widely between Odanak, Quebec and Bethel, Maine
Elizabeth Couc Montour: Usually considered Algonquin with French parentage, her family name later appears prominently in records of the Abenaki village of Odanak

5. Identifying Participants in Colonial Conflicts

The database provides insights into Indigenous participation in the series of conflicts known as the "Indian Wars":

King Philip's War (1675-1678): The database reveals how the conflict spread to Maine through a few of Philip's allies acting as provocateurs, while many others tried to maintain peace or avoided the conflict
Later Colonial Wars:

King William's War (1688-99)
Queen Anne's War (1702-14)
Dummer's War (1721-26)
King George's War (1744-48)
French and Indian War (1754-63)

The database reveals two significant trends about Indigenous combatants:

While Maine Indigenous peoples actively supported the French cause in King William's War, their support decreased in later conflicts, increasingly replaced by warriors from New France
Indigenous people from the "praying towns" of Massachusetts often served in colonial militias against other Indigenous groups in eastern conflicts

Conclusion

The HRIFNE-DA database offers researchers a powerful tool for exploring Indigenous history in northeastern North America. By organizing and making accessible these scattered historical references, the project enables new insights into individual lives, community relationships, and broader historical patterns during this critical period of cultural contact and change.