Pennacook People of the Merrimack Valley

Vocabulary

A Note on Language: We have chosen to use the term “native people” to collectively refer to the people indigenous to the land that is now the United States. Where appropriate, we have used the name of the person/people’s tribal nation. The words “Indian” and “Native American” are also used throughout this collection, particularly in historic documents, and are alternate terms for people native to this land.

Algonquian: A group of North American languages spoken by native people from Labrador (Canada) to South Carolina and west to the Great Plains. "Algonquian" is the English version of the native word.

Thousands of Years of History

For thousands of years, native people have lived on the North American continent. The land where the city of Lowell is now located was once populated by various groups of native people, and native people still live on this land today. The most well-known of these is the Pennacook, a group of Algonquian-speaking people who lived and thrived in the greater Merrimack Valley for hundreds of years, building a rich society with its own traditions, lifeways, and culture.

Tsongas Industrial History Center, uml.edu/tsongas, 978-970-5080

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