Norumbega Reconsidered: Mawooshen and the Wawenoc Diaspora

Norumbega Reconsidered: Mawooshen and the Wawenoc Diaspora explores the questions and controversies surrounding the ethnic identity and historical significance of the Wawenoc Indians of the central Maine coast. Brack evaluates accounts of contemporary ethnohistorians, whom he contends have eliminated an important chapter in Maine history by dismissing the Wawenoc community. By revisiting the narratives and journals of French explorers and observers, such as Samuel de Champlain and Father Pierre Biard, and other sources, Brack makes a powerful case for the reconsideration of Norumbega, Mawooshen, and the Wawenoc diaspora that would reinstate the Wawenocs and other extinct Abenaki communities to their deserved place in the narrative of Maine’s early history.