The Database for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Wells, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel

Joseph Nicolar


Other names: Joseph Nicola

Status (enslaved, free or both): free

Known dates: circa 1885-1894

Joseph Nicolar (1827-1894) was the author of "The Life and Traditions of the Red Man" (1893). "An elder of the Penobscot Nation in Maine and the grandson of the Penobscots' most famous shaman-leader, Old John Neptune, Nicolar brought to his task a wealth of traditional knowledge." (See full quote below)

"Penobscot and Passamaquoddy families from Indian Island in the Penobscot River, occupied land on both sides of Ocean Avenue at Cape Arundel every summer for almost 50 years. The Rancos settled first near Picnic Rocks in 1878. The Mitchells set up camp on Emery Point the following year. Both families later camped at the mouth of the Kennebunk River along with the Shays, the Neptunes, and the Nicolas, who first came in the summer of 1882. At first, they lived in tents but as time went on they built more permanent wooden structures. They made a good living making and selling sweetgrass baskets for the tourists. Louis Francis and Joseph Ranco, both Old Town Penobscot Indians, made birch bark canoes every summer near Government Wharf. Ranco is credited for making the first canvas canoe and patenting several canoe improvements over the years. Thanks to Joseph Ranco, Kennebunkport was considered a canoe-making center in the early-1900s. 'Indian Village' was torn down by landowner John Peabody in 1936." Kennebunkport Historical Society Facebook post for Indigenous Peoples Day 2019

Joseph Nicolar was author of "The Life and Traditions of the Red Man" (1893). "Joseph Nicolar's The Life and Traditions of the Red Man tells the story of his people from the first moments of creation to the earliest arrivals and eventual settlement of Europeans. Self-published by Nicolar in 1893, this is one of the few sustained narratives in English composed by a member of an Eastern Algonquian-speaking people during the nineteenth century. At a time when Native Americans' ability to exist as Natives was imperiled, Nicolar wrote his book in an urgent effort to pass on Penobscot cultural heritage to subsequent generations of the tribe and to reclaim Native Americans' right to self-representation. This extraordinary work weaves together stories of Penobscot history, precontact material culture, feats of shamanism, and ancient prophecies about the coming of the white man. An elder of the Penobscot Nation in Maine and the grandson of the Penobscots' most famous shaman-leader, Old John Neptune, Nicolar brought to his task a wealth of traditional knowledge." - Duke University Press (2007)

Bibliography:

Indigenous Peoples Day 2019 post - Sharon Cummins for the Kennebunkport Historical Society - 10/14/19

Post on Lucy Nicolar on the "Native American History" Facebook page - 11/1/23 - https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0322QuP6rH8P9cSCxVSamJaYFqVcJH7BQUNxPYZMEqnLtW2HA76kTAZCMQJqo6SCjl&id=100089592708765

The Life and Traditions of the Red Man - Joseph Nicolar (1893), republished by Duke University Press in 2007 https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-life-and-traditions-of-the-red-man

Joseph Nicolar and his Daughters - by Charles Norman Shay - as presented at the University of Maine September 25th, 2006 - https://penobscotculture.org/34-historic-preservation/tribal-members/88-joseph-nicolar

Princess Watahwaso: Bright Star of the Penobscot - Bunny McBride (2002) - Charles Norman Shay, publisher


Joseph Nicolar

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