Welcome!
This blog is about the investigative journey. I am exploring Wabanaki family mysteries. If I do this correctly, the blog will be a teaching tool as well as a research journal. The topics I discuss could be of interest to any researcher or genealogist.
Who are the Wabanaki?
Wabanaki is a general term referring to a group of Native American People inhabiting a large area of Northeastern North America. The word translates loosely to “Dawnland” and refers to being the first to greet the sun each day.
Their territory includes
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- portions of Quebec
- New Brunswick
- Nova Scotia
Modern Day Tribes or Nations included under the term Wabanaki are
- Penobscot
- Passamaquoddy
- Maliseet
- Mi'kmaq
- Abenaki of Odanak
- Abenaki of Wolinak
Why use a blog as a research journal?
I believe the Wabanaki research process must be explored in public, interactively, and with all sources available for anyone to review. A blog seems like a great tool to accomplish my goal.
Why should Wabanaki research be public?
I find it very disturbing to see people carelessly posting inaccurate historical and genealogical information in public media. It irritates me almost as much as those who won't share their sources.
There is a great deal of inaccurate and unsourced data floating around out there about the Wabanaki People. A family historian can get swept away by the flood of garbage flowing off the internet and out of old history books. Vague oral history within families and news reporters making no effort to check their facts only add mud to the mix. By researching families out in the open, I hope to start the long process of clearing the fowled waters. I don't expect to accomplish this alone, but someone has to get the ball rolling.
I have limited ability to travel to distant archives or pay for professional assistance in locating important documents. An added benefit I hope will come from this open exchange is the potential to enlist my readers in locating resources I am not able to acquire on my own.
Why do I want input from the public?
I am not perfect – I am only a humble two-legged being. I will make errors, misinterpret information, and miss important resources. By sharing the research procedure interactively with my readers, it should make me a better researcher and perhaps improve my chances of getting it right.
Before I get started
Most of my writing will be about Abenaki, Penobscot, and Maliseet families found in the New England states. Since the Wabanaki intermarry with non-Native people of the region, I will also be exploring French and New England family resources.
I intend to explore one family at a time and post the resulting data in a companion genealogy database on the Ne-Do-Ba website. I will start with the family of Edward Marden and move on to the Moulton/Kanistanaux family. Once I finish exploring these two family groups, I will accept ideas from my readers for the next family. Of course, one never really finishes any family research, so I may revisit families at a later time.
I want to point out the LibraryThing gadget in the sidebar. It highlights books in the Ne-Do-Ba research library which I recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the historic Wabanaki People. When you click on the LibraryThing title “Ne-Do-Ba Research Library”, it will take you to our page at LibraryThing where you can view the titles in our library. If you click on a book cover it will take you to Amazon.com and Ne-Do-Ba will earn a percentage of any sale that results. If Ne-Do-Ba is fortunate enough to profit from this, it money will go towards acquiring new resources from distant locations.
Before I get down to the exciting work of documenting Wabanaki families, I want to make sure all my readers have a basic understanding of the historical Wabanaki People. So, I will begin with a series of tutorials to provide some proper background.
Before I go, I would like your opinion. What do you think of the blog design - is it too busy, too green, too soft, too harsh, too bland?
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I ask that comments be limited to the general topic of genealogy and historical research, or address specific blog entry topics, questions, and comments. I would appreciate seeing sources mentioned whenever making statements of fact. I prefer you use your real name or your normal nickname. Your language should be PG13 or better. Be respectful, personal attacks will not be tolerated. Links are acceptable if they are relevant to the topic. I reserve the right to edit, delete or otherwise exercise my editorial discretion over all comments left on my blog.