THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OF WELLS AND OGUNQUIT
PRESERVING THE PAST FOR TWO MAINE TOWNS
Native Stories Gallery: 10,000 Years Ago and Now
“Kthadin, Pamola, Atahando Atteam, Susep, Nicola were people on the move who laughed, loved, cried and died over eons of time. We’re forever grateful to be from Molasses Molly, Swasson, Susep, Francis, Neptune and Dani.” From When No One is Looking, a collection of poems by Carol (Red Hawk) Dana, 1989
For ten thousand years and today, the native language is heard in the names of the rivers Webhannet, Ogunquit, and Kennebunk. In this gallery, we share the tradition of storytelling, the role of nature, and a reverence for the handmade items celebrated in present day.
As glaciers receded, hunters and gatherers lived alongside the woolly mammoth, massive pines, mountains, and wild rivers in what is now Maine and the Americas. Their descendants are the contemporary Abenaki (“People of the Dawn”), and the four tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy: Penobscot (Panawa pskik, “Place of the White Rock”), Malachite (Wala stukwiak, “People of the Beautiful River”), Passamaquoddy (Pestamocka diak, “Plenty of Pollock”), and Mi’kmaq (Mik makik, “The People”).