Abenaki

Volunteers Sought for Champlain Monument Clean-Up

August 7, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Plattsburgh, NY City Councilor David Monette is seeking volunteers to help clean up the area around one of the city’s most recognizable and controversial monuments on Saturday, August 15, 2026, from 10 am until 2 pm, weather permitting, at the Samuel De Champlain Monument Park, 30 Cumberland Avenue.

Volunteers are sought for cleaning and maintaining the monument grounds through litter removal, landscaping, weeding, and general park maintenance. [Read more…] about Volunteers Sought for Champlain Monument Clean-Up

Some Early History of Glens Falls

April 16, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Human presence in the Adirondacks, including Warren County, dates back thousands of years. The rugged peaks, valleys, and lakes of the Adirondacks were the hunting grounds for several Native American people, notably the Mohicans, Mohawk, and the Abenaki.

The Haudenosaunee arrived in the region around 1,200 to 4,000 years ago. Both the Mohawk and Oneidas claimed the Adirondacks as part of their territory. [Read more…] about Some Early History of Glens Falls

‘Somebody’s Out There!’ Growing up at Bowman’s Store, Greenfield, NY

January 14, 2026 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Bowman’s Store. That is what everyone called the place where I spent my childhood. A little gas station and general store in the Adirondack foothills crossroads of Greenfield Center in Saratoga County, NY.

I was raised by my maternal grandparents, Jesse Bowman and Marion Dunham Bowman. Jesse was a dark-skinned man who tried to hide his Abenaki ancestry. He raised me to manhood without ever admitting his heritage, yet today I am known as an American Indian storyteller and writer. How did this happen? The process was not linear or orderly. But I know where it began. It began in Bowman’s store. [Read more…] about ‘Somebody’s Out There!’ Growing up at Bowman’s Store, Greenfield, NY

King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace

October 13, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace: The Third Contest for North America (Westholme Publishing, 2025) continues the contest for North America from the end of Queen Anne’s War in 1713, marking the beginning of the Thirty-Year Peace, through the start of King George’s War in 1744, to its conclusion with the signing of Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle four years later.

While there would be little fighting between the French, Spanish, and British colonies in North America during the Thirty-Year Peace — the Franco-Spanish conflict of 1719 being an exception — for the French and British it did not prove to be peaceful. [Read more…] about King George’s War and the Thirty-Year Peace

King William’s War: First Contest for North America, 1689–1697

September 7, 2025 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

While much has been written on the French and Indian War of 1754–1763, the colonial conflicts that preceded it have received comparatively little attention.

Yet in King William’s War (1689-1697), the first clash between England and France for control of North America, the patterns of conflict for the next seventy years were laid, as were the goals and objectives of both sides, as well as the realization that the colonies of the two nations could not coexist. [Read more…] about King William’s War: First Contest for North America, 1689–1697

The Returned Captive: Jonathan Dore

August 21, 2025 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

The story of sieges and massacres of soldiers at Fort William Henry in August 1757 and two years later to residents of the Indigenous village of St. Francis (Saint-François-du-Lac, a community in Quebec, Canada, also known as Odanak by the Abenaki), are well-known by those with even a casual interest in the French and Indian War (1754-1763).

The story of Jonathan Dore is a small, but interesting tale of capture and self-redemption. His actions during both of those events shed a little more light on their impact on the individuals caught in this harrowing conflict. [Read more…] about The Returned Captive: Jonathan Dore

Saratoga Springs’ Indian Encampments

March 5, 2025 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

The tourism fostered at Saratoga Springs by the mineral waters and baths spawned the spectacle of thoroughbred racing during the nineteenth century and also a clubhouse which operated as a casino. They were exciting diversions for those visiting to take the “water cure.”

With so many tourists at the numerous hotels and boarding houses by virtue of the convenient rail connections, another attraction of sorts was fostered, Indian Encampments which functioned much like carnivals. [Read more…] about Saratoga Springs’ Indian Encampments

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America

November 13, 2024 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

The North American continent is approximately 160 million years old, yet in the United States, we tend to focus on what amounts to 3,300 millionths of that history, which is the period between 1492 to the present.

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Kathleen DuVal, a Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, asks us to widen our view of early North American history to at least 1,000 years. [Read more…] about Native Nations: A Millennium in North America

State, Nature Conservancy Reach Agreement On Follensby Pond Plans

February 21, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State and The Nature Conservancy have reached an agreement to protect more than 14,600 acres of ecologically rare and culturally significant natural resources in the Adirondacks through two conservation easements and a research consortium. The collaboration is expected to provide new public recreational access in the Raquette River corridor and establish a first-of-its-kind freshwater research preserve. [Read more…] about State, Nature Conservancy Reach Agreement On Follensby Pond Plans

Violent Appetites: Hunger in the Early Northeast

November 8, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Hunger shaped the early Northeast. As Native peoples fought back against the invasion of British and French colonizers, everyone experienced, used, succumbed to, and survived hunger.

Haudenosaunee and Wabanaki peoples had spent generations honing their subsistence strategies to their environments. Colonizers, by contrast, struggled to adapt to North America and found themselves deeply dependent upon Native American foods.

In response, colonists constructed myths of starving Native people to justify colonialism and spent centuries attacking Native food sovereignty. [Read more…] about Violent Appetites: Hunger in the Early Northeast

To Distress the French and Their Allies: Rogers’ Rangers, 1755-1763

November 3, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

To Distress the French and Their Allies: Rogers’ Rangers, 1755-1763 (Black Dome Press, 2023) is the first volume in a new “Rangers of the French and Indian, Cherokee, and Pontiac’s War” series by Black Dome Press, that is expected to document for the first time the histories of all ranger units, from each of the colonies, that served in the French & Indian War and after.

Volume I begins with the most famous ranger unit of all ― Robert Rogers’ Rangers, which served in the major campaigns in New York and Canada, and then in the Caribbean, and continued to fight in the Cherokee and Pontiac’s Wars. [Read more…] about To Distress the French and Their Allies: Rogers’ Rangers, 1755-1763

Abenaki Land Link Harvest Festival Set for Saturday

September 20, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Nulhegan Band of Coosuk, Abenaki Nation and Common Roots are hosting a celebration of the harvest of indigenous seeds at the Abenaki Land Link Harvest Festival on Saturday, September 23 in South Burlington, Vermont.

At this family-friendly event, visitors can learn more about Abenaki food culture with performances, demonstrations, food tasting, storytelling and more. Nature trails and a children’s garden discovery area will both be open to the public and bringing your own picnic is encouraged. [Read more…] about Abenaki Land Link Harvest Festival Set for Saturday

French Attacks On Old Saratoga During King George’s War (1744-1748)

September 17, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

During King George’s War (1744-1748), the primary military encounters in the Saratoga area were focused on the Schuyler estate and associated settlements and Fort Saratoga/Fort Clinton.

The most significant event was the November 1745 First Battle of Saratoga in which a force of French and Indian allies from Fort St. Frederic (at Crown Point) attacked the village, burning 30 houses, several mills, and the fort as well as killing, scalping, and capturing soldiers and residents. (You can read about that here.) [Read more…] about French Attacks On Old Saratoga During King George’s War (1744-1748)

1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

September 7, 2023 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

The First Battle of Saratoga took place during King George’s War (1744-1748) in November 1745. A force of French and Native allies set out from Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point to attack English colonies in either New England or Albany.

When deep snow made travel into New England impractical, they turned toward Old Saratoga, now known as Schuylerville in Saratoga County, NY (near where the 1777 Battles of Saratoga would later take place during the American Revolution). [Read more…] about 1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

Sam Hill: Folklore & History Of A Saratoga Resident

January 22, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Though perhaps a dying proverb, “What in Sam Hill?!” used to be commonplace as an expression of exasperation. A quick internet search will point to several possible origin stories that explain where this phrase came from but the definitive truth remains elusive.

Could it be that a Saratoga County resident known by this common moniker contributed to this once-popular phrase? [Read more…] about Sam Hill: Folklore & History Of A Saratoga Resident

Saratoga Area Ethnohistoric Survey Nears Completion

July 18, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In 2018, Saratoga National Historical Park received funding to produce an ethnohistorical study of the Saratoga area. Professor Karim Tiro from Xavier University was chosen to conduct the research and compile the report.

Dr. Tiro specializes in North American history during the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods with a focus on the history of Native Americans, the War of 1812, and epidemics. [Read more…] about Saratoga Area Ethnohistoric Survey Nears Completion

The Great North Woods Before Logging: Twitchell Lake’s Virgin Timber

April 28, 2022 by Noel Sherry 9 Comments

One of the best memories I carry from my vacations at our camp on Twitchell Lake in Herkimer County in the Adirondacks is the white pine that marks the western border of our lake-shore property. It’s massive base peaks with twin tops that tower above all the other trees on our shoreline. Peering up into its heights ignited my boyhood imagination, picturing myself atop the Crow’s Nest of some fast clipper ship, scouting for pirates.

There have been several hurricanes and microbursts that have wreaked havoc with the four plus miles of our lake’s shoreline, but my white pine stands firm still, its roots anchored deep in the ancient glacial fill. Even to this day, my brother Tom and I muse about an observation tower roped between those twin tops where we are poised, binoculars in hand, eye-to-eye with the bald eagles that visit the lake, and the loons that daily jet by. This giant stands well over 150 feet tall. [Read more…] about The Great North Woods Before Logging: Twitchell Lake’s Virgin Timber

Colonial Conflict, Native People, Anti-Catholicism & The Burning of Schenectady

January 12, 2022 by Peter Hess 5 Comments

In 1652, New Netherland Director General Peter Stuyvesant declared that Fort Orange and everything around it, including the village outside the fort, often called Oranje after the fort, was independent of the ownership of the Van Rensselaer family. He named the small mostly Dutch village “Beverwyck.”

Possibly at the urging of the Van Rensselaers, their earlier manager Arendt Van Curler (Corlear) began planning the construction of a new village. [Read more…] about Colonial Conflict, Native People, Anti-Catholicism & The Burning of Schenectady

Abenaki History At Adirondack Museum Sunday

April 16, 2015 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

No account of the history of the Adirondacks is complete without a consideration of its Abenaki residents, and the Adirondack Museum houses an impressive collection of artifacts that help illustrate the story of Abenaki culture and its significance in the Adirondack region.

In the final installment of the Adirondack Museum’s Cabin Fever Sundays series, anthropologist Christopher Roy and an Abenaki panel including Andree Newton, Diane Cubit, and James Watsaw, will discuss the experiences of Abenaki families in the Adirondack region and throughout the Northeast for the past several centuries. [Read more…] about Abenaki History At Adirondack Museum Sunday

Champlain Maritime Museum Native American Encampment

June 21, 2011 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will be hosting a Native American Encampment Weekend this weekend, June 25 & 26, that is expected to give visitors a Native American perspective on life – past, present, and future – in the Champlain Valley and across Vermont.

Members of the Elnu and Missisquoi Abenaki tribes, the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk and Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation will gather will gather at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum for the annual celebration of the region’s Native American Heritage. [Read more…] about Champlain Maritime Museum Native American Encampment

Abenaki

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