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A trying trip
2010



Credits:
CSW (All rights reserved)

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A very long time ago1, a delegation of Abenakis came to Québec City to bring back a priest they very much liked. They left the city with the priest and a Frenchman to return to the mission on the Kennebec2 River.
The chief guide was an Etchemin3,and since the French travellers were in his canoe, they were under his care and responsibility. Things went well until they came to the source of Famine River4. The chief guide made a mistake, they should have travelled by the Chaudière River5, then the Loup6 and the Magermette7. Unfortunately, they took the Doaquam8, the Wallastekw9 and the Saint-Jean10 rivers to reach the Madawaska11.
The chief guide reluctantly admitted he had made a mistake. The travellers had to turn back to reach the Famine River. Their food supplies were soon exhausted and they were starved when they reached the proper river. They barely made it to the Magermette and stopped there, unable to continue on without food supplies.
That is when the chief guide accused the priest of malice and sorcery. He accused him of wanting them to die from starvation. Meanwhile, someone came to inform them that an Abenakis had just killed a moose. They were then able to carry on with their trip, but went through more hardships because of strong river currents and portaging over mountains.

1. Around the1690s.
2. Kennebec is the name of a river located in what is now called the state of Maine. The Abenakis meaning of Kinebak is full or almost full.
3. The Etchemins are known as the Malecites. They call themselves the Wulust'agooga'wiks, ?people of the pretty river?, referring to the Saint-Jean River.
4. Famine River: In Abenakis Manosai sibo.
5. Chaudière River: In Abenakis Kokwi sibo, whirlpool river.
6. Du Loup River: In Abenakis Molsemi sibo.
7. Magermette River: In Abenakis Majalmit means ?He bewitched me?.
8. Doaquam River : In Abenakis Ktaquami sibo means river of a thick forest.
9. Wallastekw River: In Abenakis means shallow river.
10. Saint-Jean River: In Abenakis Saz8 (Saint-Jean). In Malecite Wolastoq means pretty river.
11. Madawaska River: In Abenakis signifies grass along the shoreline.

Taken and adapted from Chimi and Sozi, by Henry Lorne Masta : Abenaki Indian Legends, Grammar and Place Names. Les Voix des Bois-Francs, 1932.