Early History

Deep shell heaps indicate Indian encampments dating back 6000 years in Acadia National Park, but prehistoric records are scanty.  The first written descriptions of Maine coast Indians, recorded 100 years after European trade contacts began, describe native Americans who lived off the land by hunting, fishing, collecting shellfish, and gathering plants and berries.  The Abnaki Indians knew Mount Desert Island as Pemetic, 'the sloping land.' They built bark-covered conical shelters, and traveled in exquisitely designed birchbark canoes.  Historical notes record that the Abnaki wintered in interior forests and spent their summers near the coast.  Archaeological evidence suggests the opposite pattern; in order to avoid harsh inland winters and to take advantage of salmon runs upstream Indians wintered on the coast and summered inland.