Abenaki Musical Instruments

Pictured in front of you is a Split Ash Rattle, made out of black ash wood, approximately 12 inches long with the top section split into many strips along the growth rings. A deer hide stick and sinew complete its composition. The top of the rattle is hit against the hand, creating sound and melody with help of the dried corn and beans inside the instrument. Split ash rattles originated with the Mi’qmak of the Canadian Maritimes, and were most commonly used during Ko’jua dance songs, which are a Wabanaki type of smoke dance. For the Abenaki people, smoke dances were primarily social gatherings.

This specific split ash rattle was acquired by the owner, Bryan Blanchette, during the Abenaki Heritage Weekend at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The second rattle in front of you is a hide rattle that Blanchette completed at a 2021 Abenaki language immersion course at Middlebury College

Historically, Abenaki medaiwins — people who perform healing rituals and can manipulate the elements — used these rattles as part of healing songs. In addition to their medicinal uses, split ash rattles were also used in Abenaki smoke dances, which were primarily social gatherings. These rattles became more prominent among the Abenaki people after contact with white colonizers, who were intimidated by the use of large powwow drums. As a result, rattles became more commonly used due to their smaller size and portability. 

Blanchette was gifted the drum in this exhibit about 10 years ago, from a friend in the powwow circle. This drum is constructed from cow hide and pine. The materials used to build an Abenaki drum are crucial in defining its sound; this specific drum, for example, has a notably low tonality because of the cow hide. For the Abenaki people, drums symbolize a sense of universal stability and groundedness. Quoted in Seven Days VT Lucy Cannon-Neel, a Vermont Commissioner on Native American affairs, says that “[The Abenaki people] say the drum is the heartbeat of Mother Earth and it keeps everything equal [and] sound.”

The video in this exhibition depicts Blanchette performing Tom Rush’s song “Merrimack County” on guitar, while also singing the song in the Abenaki language. With the help of a Gordon Day Abenaki dictionary Blanchette fully translated the song — which pays homage to Merrimack County in New Hampshire — from English to Abenaki. Merrimack County has deep significance for the Abenaki people; it was the home of Passaconaway, a powerful Abenaki medaiwin and sachem (a chief). In fact, the man dancing in the video is named Strong Bear, and he is a powwow dancer who is a descendant of Passaconaway.

The location of the video holds a more grave type of significance. Blanchette, who was the executive producer of the video, filmed in Turners Falls Massachusetts, the site of the May 19, 1676 Battle of Turners Falls. A critical battle in King Phillip’s war, the Battle of Turners Falls resulted in the death of about 200 Native Americans from various tribes at the hands of violence initiated by English colonizers. By translating “Merrimack County” into Abenaki and performing the song at this location, Blanchette hopes to both honor and uncover the culture of ancestors: “You find [aspects of Abenanki culture] in the language and [in] the way things are worded.” For this reason, taking the time to bring a song to life in the Abenaki language was an integral part of Blanchette’s artistic vision. 

Look out for Blanchette’s album entitled Wôlowôzi, which translates to “continually live well.”