The Androscoggin (Arosaguntacook, etc., see names) were an

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

people from what are now the U.S. states of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. ...

. By the 18th century, they were absorbed by neighboring tribes.

Name

Arosaguntacook or Arossagunticook, the tribe's

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, o ...

, in the eastern

Abenaki language Abenaki (''Eastern: Alənαpαtəwéwαkan, Western: Alnôbaôdwawôgan'') is an endangered Algonquian language of Quebec and the northern states of New England. The language has Eastern and Western forms which differ in vocabulary and phonolog ...

means "Rocky Flats flow" or "a river of rocks refuge." Other recorded variations of the name are Amariscoggin, Ameriscoggin, Arsigantegok, Asschincantecook, and Alessikantek-eyak by the

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...

and the

Cowasuck The Cowasuck, also known as Cowass, was an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe in northeastern North America, linguistically and culturally belonging to the Western Abenaki as well as being members of the Abenaki Confederation. Today, t ...

. The name ''Arosaguntacook'' was probably changed by Massachusetts Governor

Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...

to ''Androscoggin''. Today's Penobscot name for the Saint Francis Abenaki is ''Alessikantek-eyak'' because Arosaguntacook belonged to the ancestors of the people of Saint Francis.

Distribution

The Arosaguntacook once lived in the

Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River (Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

watershed, located in present-day southern

and northern

. Their main village was located in the vicinity of present-day

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...

. Together with the Pigwacket, they formed the southernmost of the Abenaki tribes and were therefore one of the first in contact with the English colonists of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

History

In 1675, the Androscoggin took part in

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

. Metallak was a member of the Androscoggin tribe.

Maps

Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ('' ...

(from north to south): Image:The_Mi'kmaq.png,

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the north ...

Image:Wohngebiet_Maliseet.png,

Maliseet The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...

Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'') are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatik'','' straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick ...

Image:Wohngebiet_Oestlicheabenaki.png, Eastern Abenaki (

, Kennebec, Arosaguntacook, Pigwacket/Pequawket) Image:Wohngebiet_Westlicheabenaki.png, Western Abenaki (Arsigantegok, Missisquoi, Cowasuck, Sokoki,

Pennacook The Pennacook, also known by the names Penacook and Pennacock, were an Algonquian-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine. They were not a united tribe but a netwo ...

References

* Bruce G. Trigger (ed.): ''

Handbook of North American Indians The ''Handbook of North American Indians'' is a series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Native American studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. Planning for the handbook series began in the late 1960s and ...

. Vol. 15. Northeast''. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1978

External links

Abenaki Council of Odanak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Androscoggin People Abenaki Extinct Native American tribes Native American history of Maine Native American history of New Hampshire Native American tribes in Maine Native American tribes in New Hampshire