Malecite Indian History

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Malecite, Various explanations of this name have been given. According to Chamberlain it is from their Micmac name Malisit, 'broken talkers'; Tanner gives the form as Mahnesheets, meaning 'slow tongues'; Baraga derives it through the Cree from mayisit or malisit, 'the disfigured or ugly foot'; Lacombe (Diet. Cris, 707) agrees with Baraga and gives the etymology as magi or mal, 'deformed,' and sit, 'foot.' Maurault's explanation is radically different from all, as he says it is from Maroudit or Malouidit, 'those who are of Saint Malo.' Vetromile says it "comes from malike, which in old Abnaki and also in Delaware means witchcraft," but adds, "hence the French name Micmac is a substitute for Mareschite," as he writes the name. According to Chamberlain the name they apply to themselves is Wulastuk-wick, 'dwellers on the beautiful river,' or, as given by Maurault, Ouarastegouiaks, `those of the river whose bed contains sparkling objects.

The Malecite belong to the Abnaki group of the Algonquian stock. Maurault makes a distinction between the Malecite and the Etchimin, but adds that "the remnants of this tribe and the Etchimins are called at the present day Malecites." Their closest linguistic affinity is with the Passamaquoddy, the language of the two being almost identical, and is closely allied to the New England dialects, but more distant from that of the Micmac.

Although the New Brunswick coast was visited by or soon after the middle of the 16th century, and St John river located on maps as early as 1558, making it quite probable that the people of this tribe had come in contact with the whites at that early date, the earliest recorded notice of them is in Champlain's narrative of his voyage of 1604. He found the country along the banks of the St John in the possession of Indians named "Les Etchemons," by whom his party was received with hospitality and rejoicing, and says they were the " first Christians " who had been seen by these savages, which may have been true of the particular party he met, but doubtful in the broader sense. That these were Malecite there is no reasonable doubt. " When we were seated," says Champlain, "they began to smoke, as was their custom, before making any discourse. They made us presents of game and venison. All that day and the night following they continued to sing, dance, and feast until day reappeared. They were clothed in beaver skills."

Early in the 17th century Ft La Tour was built on St John river, which became the rallying point of the tribe, who there learned the use of firearms, and first obtained cooking vessels of metal and the tools and instruments of civilized life. The few French settlers on this river intermarried with the Indians, thus forming a close alliance, which caused them to become enemies of the New England settlers, between whom and the French there was almost constant warfare. After the English came into possession of the country there were repeated disputes between them and the Malecite in regard to lands until 1776. Afterward lands were assigned them. In 1850, according to Schoolcraft, "the Tobinque river and the small tract at Madawaska, Meductic Point, and Kingsclear, with their small rocky islands near St John, containing 15 acres," constituted all the lands held or claimed by them in the country which was formerly their own. In 1884 they numbered 767, of whom 584 were in New Brunswick and the others in Quebec province. According to the report of Canadian Indian Affairs for 1904 their number was 805, of whom 103 were in Quebec province and 702 in New Brunswick.

• Additional Abenaki Indian Resources

  • Abenaki Customs

  • Abenaki History

  • Abenaki Name

  • Abenaki Ethnic Relations

  • Abenaki Towns

  • Abenaki Tribal Divisions

  • Abenaki Chiefs

Index of Tribes or Nations

Source: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906

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