Native cultures prior to 1609

Books & Resources available through our Lending Library. Learn how to borrow here.

Joseph Bruchac, The Faithful Hunter: Abenaki Stories
(Greenfield Center, NY: Greenfield Review Press, 1988). Collected by storyteller Joseph Bruchac, these twelve Abenaki stories tell of life in ancient times. Old, sacred, and funny relations between the plants, trees, and animals weave for the reader a tapestry of Wabanaki values and insight. Included are many stories about Gluskabe, the "one who calls the Abenaki people his grandchildren."
Reading level: second grade - adult
Number of copies available: 14

Joseph Bruchac, The Wind Eagle and Other Abenaki Stories
(Greenfield Center, NY: Bowman Books, 1985). This is a collection of six Abenaki teaching tales. These tales were used to instruct young children, as well as to entertain. All of these stories are about the encounters of Gluskabe, the "one who calls the Abenaki people his grandchildren." They reveal the beliefs of Vermont's earliest peoples and their ties to their surroundings.
Reading level: second grade - adult
Number of copies available: 29

Colin Calloway, The Abenaki
(New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989). This is a good research and reference tool providing a respectful overview of Abenaki history including culture, arts, wars, and beliefs from pre-European contact to the present day.
Reading level: sixth grade - adult
Number of copies available: 25

Colin Calloway, Dawnland Encounters: Indians and Europeans in Northern New England
(Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1991). Students and adults searching for details of the Abenaki people will find a wealth of unbiased information from ancient history to present times. Heavy use of primary sources, including diaries, describes peaceful and antagonistic encounters with Europeans during colonial times. These sources also provide a sense of how the Abenaki managed to survive to today.
Reading level: tenth grade - adult
Number of copies available: 1

William A. Haviland and Marjory W. Power, The Original Vermonters: Native Inhabitants, Past and Present
(Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1994). This book provides wonderful primary sources based on archeological findings that reveal how people lived in Vermont for at least ten thousand years before the Europeans arrived, and what has been their fate. This second edition contains thirteen additional years of research by archaeologists including vital new information on the origins of farming in Vermont.
Reading level: eleventh grade - adult
Number of copies available: 1

Janice Ovecka, Cave of Falling Water
(Shelburne, VT: The New England Press, 1992). Told from the perspectives of three girls, Woni, Mattie, and Stacy, a cave serves as an important refuge during different periods of Vermont's history (the 1600s, the 1800s, and 1990s). Each girl shares the importance of the Cave of Falling Water in her life from her unique cultural perspective; Woni is Abenaki, Mattie is an early settler coming to build a new life, and Stacy is moving from the big city to Vermont. Using the cave as a common place for each of the girls helps illustrate their historical and cultural struggles within the context of Vermont's history.
Reading level: fourth - eighth grade
Number of copies available: 16