artist - Jason K. Brown

Penobscot

The name Penobscot comes from panawahpskek, "the place of the white rocks," or "where the rocks widen."
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It is a word in the Penobscot language that means "the place where the rocks open out."
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Penobscot Indian artists are best known for their beadwork and basket-weaving. Penobscot baskets were originally made from birchbark, but over the past 200 years ash splint basketry has become more popular with Penobscot artists. Penobscots and other eastern Native Americans also crafted wampum out of white and purple shell beads to use as regalia, currency, and commemoration of important events. The designs and pictures on Penobscot wampum often told a story or represented family affiliations.
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The Penobscots themselves are original natives of Maine. They still live there today, on a reservation at Indian Island near Old Town.
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The Penobscot villages were communal wigwams covered with bark or woven mats, each village also having a larger central town-house for public gatherings.
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They were primarily an agricultural people who built their villages on the shores of a river or stream.
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Usually they wore a headband with a feather in it or a pointed cap. Sometimes a chief or other important Penobscot Indian would wear a headdress made of feathers pointing straight up from a headband. The Penobscots did not paint their faces. Women wore their hair loose or braided on top of their heads, and Penobscot men sometimes wore their long hair in topknots. Penobscot Indians often wore special cloaks with pointed hoods, moccasins on their feet, and nose rings. The women wore long dresses with removable sleeves and the men wore breechcloths with leather pant legs tied on. Here is a turn of the century (19th to 20th) clothing photo.
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What was their barter system like?

What kinds of food did they eat and how did they get it?

They fished in the Penobscot River and hunted deer and moose, traditional activities Penobscots still cherish today (though most hunters use guns now instead of arrows and spears). Penobscot Indians also planted corn and beans, picked berries, and made maple syrup from tree sap just as Maine people do today.
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What kinds of weapons or tools did they use to get their food?

Penobscot hunters and warriors used bows and arrows, spears, and heavy wooden clubs. Penobscot fishermen used special pronged fishing spears and nets, not fishhooks.
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Snow snake was a popular Penobscot winter game. The "snakes" were three to six feet long and carved from wood. The game was played by sliding the snakes down a track in the snow on a hill. The snake that went the farthest won. The winner took all the snakes.Cat's Cradle was another amusement. It is the same game that many of us learned as children. A piece of sinew was tied end to end to form a loop. The loop was threaded through and around the player's fingers to form a design. The next player took the string in such a way as to form another design.
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There are lots of traditional Penobscot legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very important to Penobscot Indian culture. Here's one legend about why humans need the wind. Story
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What was their transportation like?

The Penobscot tribe was well-known for their birchbark canoes. Canoeing is still popular among Penobscots, though few people handcraft their own canoe from birch bark anymore. When they were on dry land, the Penobscots usually just walked, though they did have sleds and snowshoes to help them in the winter (they learned to make those tools from northern neighbors like the Cree Indians.)
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Pronged Fishing Spear