The untold story of the Abenaki, New Hampshire’s first people

Strawbery Banke Museum Uncovers 12,000 Years of Abenaki History

The Abenaki lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for 12,000 years before Europeans knew the place existed. Yet somehow, their story got lost in time.

Then, in 2015, archaeologists at Strawbery Banke Museum found proof – old pottery, stone tools, and tent holes in the ground. These weren’t just random items.

They showed how Abenaki folks hunted, fished, and thrived along the coast for countless generations.

Now, thanks to the “People of the Dawnland” exhibit, visitors can see a real wigwam, touch traditional crafts, and learn why this land matters so much to the 24,909 Native Americans still in New Hampshire today.

Diggers Find 12,000-Year Abenaki History at Strawbery Banke

Crews at Strawbery Banke Museum found pottery bits, stone tools, and tent holes that show Abenaki people lived in coastal New Hampshire for over 12,000 years before Europeans arrived.

These items tell us about Native Americans who came to the Seacoast area during different seasons to hunt, fish, and make food.

The things they left behind link to the land now called Portsmouth, going back thousands of years before colonial times.

Museum Staff Missed Native Stories for Decades

Strawbery Banke’s early dig work in the 2000s mostly looked at colonial-era finds while pushing Native American history aside.

The museum mainly talked about European settlers who came in 1623, acting like history started with them. Over time, staff began to notice this big gap in their story.

Small notes about Abenaki land use started showing up in displays, but the full picture of life before colonization stayed mostly untold.

Abenaki Voices Finally Heard in 2017

The museum started its first real Abenaki program in 2017, changing how Strawbery Banke told Portsmouth’s story. Museum staff reached out to Native American experts who could share Abenaki views and cultural know-how.

They made the first info panels explaining how Abenaki people lived, what they ate, and how they used the land around the Piscataqua River. This small start led to bigger changes in how the museum handled Native history.

“People of the Dawnland” Becomes Permanent in 2019

The museum opened its first dedicated Native space in 2019, letting visitors learn about Abenaki life beyond quick mentions in colonial exhibits.

The permanent display came together with help from the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs, who guided the content.

Cowasuck Band members shared cultural knowledge, checked text, and loaned items for display, making sure the exhibit truly showed their ancestors and living customs.

College Students Help Recover Lost History

The Indigenous New Hampshire Collaborative Collective brought together University of New Hampshire students and Abenaki knowledge keepers to fill holes in Portsmouth’s story.

Students looked through old documents, maps, and records for mentions of Native communities that colonial writers often ignored.

The group created teaching materials showing how Abenaki people used the Piscataqua region throughout the seasons.

Their work helped the museum move beyond simple stories about Native Americans “vanishing” after Europeans came.

Old Artifacts Tell New Stories Through Fresh Eyes

Alexandra Martin, the museum archaeologist, looked again at items that sat in storage for years and noticed things earlier researchers missed.

She spotted patterns showing how Abenaki groups moved through the tidal basin area during different seasons.

Martin found stone tools and pottery pieces that earlier diggers had mislabeled or overlooked because they weren’t looking for Native American materials.

Her work proved Indigenous history wasn’t just a brief chapter but the base of Portsmouth’s story.

Storyteller Brings Ancient Traditions to Life

Anne Jennison, an Abenaki storyteller, helps museum visitors connect with Native culture through fun programs that share old knowledge.

She created hands-on displays where people can touch items made using age-old methods and learn what they were for. Jennison runs classes explaining Abenaki stories, beliefs, and ways of seeing the natural world.

Her programs show how Native knowledge worked with the local setting in lasting ways long before European ideas about saving nature came along.

Traditional Home Rises Again on Museum Grounds

Cowasuck Band members built a wigwam at Strawbery Banke in 2021, placing it near where diggers found a possible post hole from an old structure during work in 2015.

The builders used normal materials like tree saplings, bark, and plant fibers to make a real dwelling.

Tribal members followed building methods passed down through families, giving visitors a chance to see and enter a home like those that stood in Portsmouth for thousands of years before colonial houses took their place.

Garden Grows Food Plants First Grown by Native Farmers

The Abenaki teaching garden shows plants that Native people grew and gathered in the area for thousands of years.

Visitors learn how Native farmers planted corn, beans, and squash together in groups that helped each plant grow better.

Museum staff talk about old picking methods and the deep knowledge Abenaki people had about local plant cycles. Cooking demos show how these foods were fixed using recipes that fed communities through changing seasons.

First Powwow Celebrates Native Culture During City’s 400th Birthday

Strawbery Banke hosted the first Piscataqua Powwow in 2023, bringing dancers, drummers, and artists together during Portsmouth’s 400th birthday party.

The timing made a strong point about seeing the thousands of years of history that came before the colonial milestone.

Native performers from across New England came to share customs that lived on despite hundreds of years of being pushed out and having their culture put down.

The event showed how Abenaki communities kept their identity through colonial times and still practice their culture today.

Native Americans Still Call New Hampshire Home

About 24,909 Native Americans currently live in New Hampshire, continuing cultural practices tied to the land their ancestors inhabited for thousands of years.

The museum now works directly with these living communities to develop programs that show Indigenous history isn’t just something from the past.

Abenaki people still harvest traditional plants, make crafts using ancient techniques, and maintain connections to special places around Portsmouth.

Museum visitors learn that Native American history didn’t end with colonization but continues to evolve as Indigenous people maintain their identity and traditions.

Visiting Strawbery Banke Museum, New Hampshire

You can explore 12,000 years of Indigenous history at Strawbery Banke Museum on 14 Hancock Street in Portsmouth.

Your general admission ticket gets you into the Abenaki Heritage Initiative exhibits and all historic houses for two days. The museum runs April 26-October 26, 2025 (closed Tuesdays) from 10AM-4PM.

Check out the reconstructed Abenaki wigwam near the archaeological site and download their augmented reality app for an enhanced cultural experience.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• The pro-slavery bill that kickstarted Bleeding Kansas – and the Civil War
• In 1907, Congress forced Roosevelt to put God back on U.S. coins. Here’s why.
• The U.S. Navy doesn’t whip its sailors anymore. Thank this senator from New Hampshire.