Zaughe’darankiac and translates them correctly as “mouth of the river” and “people of the mouth of the river.” Maurault (op. cit., p. 77) differs from others in giving the form “‘sakkadaguk’ à l’endroit où le terrain est plat et uni.” The proper name Sαŋkədeławiak, “people of where the river flows out,” is known among the Penobscot to-day and has been frequently used by authors in referring to Indians at the mouth of the Kennebec and Androscoggin Rivers, or better, as Kendall states, to “the people of the common mouth of Kennebec and Amariscoggin, that is the Sagahoc of the early colonists.” (Kendall, op. cit., vol. III, p. 144.)

Bearing upon this is the fact that part of the St. Francis band residing near Durham, Province of Quebec, until recently preserved the local name kwən·a·´mwiak, “long point people.” This has been thought to be possibly connected with the term just given. Joseph Laurent7 assigns the same name (Kwanahômoik) to Durham and gives the meaning “where the turn of the river makes a long point.” It is evidently, however, a later name acquired by these St. Francis families after they had settled at Durham.

In ancient times the tribes on the coast of Maine extended into the interior, but were more or less locally identified with the mouths of the rivers and the large bays. The Wawenock were then located southwest of the Penobscot, whose proper territory on the coast only surrounded Penobscot Bay. According to tradition among the Penobscot, their nearest relatives, the Wawenock, as we shall henceforth call them on preferred authority,8 are definitely remembered as Wα̨li·´naki·ak, “People of the bay country,” because they were located on the shores and in the country back of what is now known as Sagadahoc. This country lies southwest of Penobscot Bay and includes a number of smaller bays from St. George’s Bay, in Knox County, westward to the mouth of the Kennebec River, embracing Lincoln and part of Sagadahoc Counties. The Penobscot also refer to the inhabitants of this region as Sα̨ŋkədeła´wiak, “People of the mouth of the river” (Sagadahoc), the term being evidently another name for the Wawenock. At the present time, not having held any contact with the Wawenock since their removal to Canada early in the eighteenth century, they know the tribe only by name. There is some evidence, however, in one of the family names, Neptune, which occurs among both the Penobscot and Wawenock, that during this period some of the latter may have joined the Penobscot or vice versa.

From these sources we can derive a fairly definite idea of the Wawenock habitat and also two of the tribal synonyms.9 Sagadahoc seems to have been a commonly used designation for both the country and people.

In the matter of the first European contact with the tribe it is probable that Captain Waymouth in 1609, when he encountered the Indians while riding at anchor off the coast of Maine, in what is now thought to be George’s Harbor, encountered men of the Wawenock. The chances are, however, about even that they were Wawenock or Penobscot. We may assume in either case, nevertheless, that some of the descriptions, which the scribe of the expedition, James Rosier, left us, refer to the Wawenock, because subsequently during his sojourn in the neighborhood he met a great many natives, concerning some of whom he has given considerable information.10

Subsequent historical literature contains nothing, so far as I could find, until about a century later when the Wabanaki tribes of Maine had become hostile to the English colonists in Massachusetts. Father Rasles, the Jesuit missionary who took charge of a mission in 1690, founded at Norridgewock several years before, mentions the tribe as the Warinakiens.11 An estimate for this year states that the Sheepscot (a local name for the Wawenock) had 150 men and the Pemaquid 100.12 The Wawenock were one of the tribes to be represented in the mission at Norridgewock, which was some 50 miles from the heart of their country.13 During this period the Wawenock appear to have gradually drifted northward toward the interior, probably in order to associate more closely with the Christian proselytes of the Norridgewock and Aroosaguntacook.public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@49951@[email protected]#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor pginternal" id="FNanchor_14"