PENNACOOK

The ancestral homeland of the Pennacook has since become the state of New Hampshire. The Pennacook also had hunting grounds in what now is western Maine, northern Massachusetts, and eastern Vermont. Many different ALGONQUIANS, with different band names, living in the region have been grouped together under the general name of Pennacook, which was the name of a band and village at the site of present-day Concord, now the capital of the state. Pennacook, pronounced PEN-uh-cook, means “at the bottom of the hill.” The various Pennacook bands are sometimes classified with the ABENAKI of Maine, with whom they were allied in a confederacy for part of their history. The Abenaki and Pennacook are classified as part of the Northeast Culture Area (see NORTHEAST INDIANS).

Ifone travels through New Hampshire, and all New England, one notices many towns and geographical features bearing Algonquian-derived names. Each place-name has a story that can shed light on Native American history, legend, and custom. For example, there is a town of Penacook and a lake of the same name.

There are hundreds more Indian names across the granite-and-birch landscape of New Hampshire. A road through the Sandwich Range along the state’s southern border, connecting Conway and Lincoln, is called the Kancamagus Highway. This name honors the last sachem, or chief, of the Pennacook; one of the mountains in the Sandwich Range also bears his name. Other mountains nearby in the same range bear the name of Paugus and Passaconaway.

In 1675, at the time of King Philip’s War, led by King Philip of the WAMPANOAG, Kancamagus decided to keep the peace with the English colonists. His cousin Paugus, however, favored the path of war. Both men were grandsons of Passaconaway, the first Penna-cook sachem to establish relations and trade with the settlers.

The English tricked some of the peaceful bands into coming to a sporting meet at Dover. Then the whites attacked, killed, and captured many of their guests and sold many into slavery. At that time, Kancamagus became an enemy of the English. Years later in 1689, at the beginning of the French and Indian wars between England and France, Kancamagus found his revenge, with an attack on the settlement of Dover. A Pennacook woman tricked the settlers into leaving the gates of their stockade open. Many settlers died in the ensuing fight.

In retaliation, the English convinced their allies the MOHAWK to attack the Pennacook. They swept in from the west and destroyed many Pennacook villages. Kan-camagus and his warriors took up positions behind log walls at Lake Winnisquam (an Algonquian name referring to the salmon there). The Pennacook repelled the attackers, then snuck away at night. This place of battle today has an Indian name—Mohawk Point. Then Kancamagus led his people through the mountains, following much of the route the Kancamagus Highway now takes, to the Connecticut Valley and on to Quebec, in Canada, where they joined up with the Abenaki at St. Francis. (Connecticut is also an Indian name, meaning “the long river.”)

Other place-names speak of Indian legends. One such location is Squaw Cove in Big Squam Lake (meaning “big salmon lake”). A granite boulder that once stood along the shore resembled a crouching woman. Legend has it that an old Native American sachem wanted a young bride and chose a girl named Suneta. But Suneta loved a young warrior by the name of Anonis. Anonis, far away at the time, could not make it back in time to prevent the wedding. After the wedding feast, the old sachem fell asleep. A storm arose on the lake. Suneta, alone in her wigwam, wept quietly. Anonis suddenly appeared out of the rain and darkness. He beckoned Suneta to flight, telling her they would start a new life elsewhere. But as they hurried off, the sachem awoke. He strung his bow and shot Anonis in the back. Suneta, heartbroken, ran to the shore, crouched down, and prayed to Manitou, the Great Spirit, asking to be saved from her fate. At daybreak, when the storm had passed, the figure of Suneta still crouched on the shore. But she had been turned to granite. The rock became known as Squaw Rock.

Still other place-names tell of Indian customs. Those with animal or fish names, like Lake Winnisquam and Big Squam Lake, indicate that the Pennacook once came there in search of salmon for food. Another example is the place called Indian Leap along the Lost River Highway near Franconia Notch. Over the centuries, a stream has worn large potholes in the granite boulders, forming deep pools and high ledges. It is reported that Indians brought young boys to this spot to test their courage. They would have to jump from boulder to boulder, along the jagged points jutting out over the dark, cold pools 20 feet below. A slip would mean death or injury. Supposedly, those who hesitated were not ready for warfare. But those who leaped fearlessly would one day be great warriors.

Pennacook descendants live among the Abenaki at Odanak (St. Francis) and Wollinak (Becancour) in

Quebec. A band known as the Pennacook New Hampshire Tribe operates out of Manchester, New Hampshire, in their ancestral homeland. The Cowasuck Band of the Pennacock-Abenaki People is centered in Franklin, Massachusetts.