Petitions and the reconfiguration of homeland: Persistence and tradition among Wabanaki peoples in the nineteenth century

This thesis examines why the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet peoples---three Wabanaki groups whose homeland encompasses present-day eastern Maine the greater part of western New Brunswick, and the southern shore of Quebec---adopted the Euro-American practice of submitting written petitions to government officials. Nineteenth-century Native petitioners wielded their influence in the new geo-political realities of an international border across their homeland. This cross-border comparison of Wabanaki petitions shows that the gradual establishment of the border had a different impact on Native communities. Wabanaki peoples still viewed the bordered region as their cultural homeland, the center of their universe. Homeland entailed intimate knowledge of the land and water that evoked family band mobility and seasonal activities. As settlers carried out a rearrangement of space, the reconfiguration of homeland led Native leaders to negotiate treaties and to petition governments to create reservations and reserves. Such places often held a cultural significance for them in that they served to emphasize Wabanaki values.;At the close of the Revolutionary War, Penobscot homeland was no longer a Euro-American borderland, and tribal leaders entered into treaties with Massachusetts officials who aggressively sought Indian land and created reservation lands. Cultural misunderstandings and different interpretations of the treaties prompted Penobscot leaders to petition for redress and protect their dwindling land base.;The Passamaquoddy people experienced the direct impact of the Canadian-American border through the heart of their homeland. After securing reservation lands and rights in Maine, Native leaders assisted boundary commissioners by drawing maps, providing testimony, and guiding surveyors. Passamaquoddies struggled to maintain connections to their eastern homeland in New Brunswick by petitioning the province to create reserves. As reserves came and went, Passamaquoddies nevertheless retained a presence in New Brunswick. To many newcomers, the international border superseded tribal rights and settlers on both sides of the border encroached on Indian land. Native petitions sought homeland protection on both sides of the border and asserted indigenous rights to the land.;Maliseet petitions to New Brunswick created reserves along the Saint John River, a distribution that reflected family band values of homeland. In Quebec, Maliseet families struggled to remain connected to the northern portion of their homeland by petitioning for a reserve and practicing mobility. As settlers in both provinces encroached on reserve lands, Native petitions used the law to protect their lands while families continued to camp on private property. Reserve families made decisions to shape their own communities and to maintain their cultural identity.