Abstract
The October 4, 1759 attack on St. Francis is recognized as an important event in American history, but most people only know
– Abstract, Reading Abenaki Traditions and European Records of Rogers’ Raid by Marge Bruchac. 2006.the fictional version. The movie “Northwest Passage” portrays half naked savages, living in tipis and pounding on great war drums. Townhistories depict the Abenaki as violent foreign marauders, who attackedno reason , conveniently forgetting to mention the broken treatiesand boundary violations of English settlers inAbenaki territory.Some historians have claimed the Abenaki were engaged in a drunken orgythe night before the raid. Those who have read Robert Rogers’ accountthink that more than 200 Abenaki people werekilled, and that thesurvivors were few and far between. These fictions have twisted this eventinto shape. The truth, as preserved in Abenakiunrecognizable oral traditions , French records, and English documents, includingthe writings of Rogers’ own men, is far more complicated.
Author(s): Marge Bruchac
Publisher: Vermont Folklife Center
Date: August 2006
Pages: 12