Norumbega Reconsidered: Mawooshen and the Wawenoc Diaspora explores the questions and controversies surrounding the ethnic identity and historical significance of the Wawenoc Indians of the central Maine coast. Brack evaluates accounts of contemporary ethnohistorians, whom he contends have eliminated an important chapter in Maine history by dismissing the Wawenoc community. By revisiting the narratives and journals of French explorers and observers, such as Samuel de Champlain and Father Pierre Biard, and other sources, Brack makes a powerful case for the reconsideration of Norumbega, Mawooshen, and the Wawenoc diaspora that would reinstate the Wawenocs and other extinct Abenaki communities to their deserved place in the narrative of Maine's early history.
About the Author: H. G. "Skip" Brack is the founder and curator of the Davistown Museum and proprietor of and buyer for the Jonesport Wood Company, which deals in antique and used tools and includes the famed Liberty Tool Company in Liberty, Maine. Artifacts and information that Brack encountered on his tool buying expeditions in the attics, cellars, and workshops of coastal New England piqued his curiosity, raising questions about its early inhabitants and the tools they used. When he discovered that the information he sought was sketchy, inaccurate, or undocumented, Brack sought and scoured primary and secondary sources on the history of early coastal New England. He has written about its inhabitants, including the indigenous First Nation communities, and the origins and composition of tools used by early New Englanders. His publications include Norumbega Reconsidered, the Davistown Museum Hand Tools in History series, and much of the text on the information-rich museum website www.davistownmuseum.org. Brack holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and M.A. from the University of Colorado. His knowledge of early tools and Maine/New England maritime history makes him a sought after lecturer and consultant. Brack, the museum, and his tool stores have been featured in Yankee, Downeast, and Bangor Metro magazines, the Boston Globe, an Associated Press article that appeared world-wide, Maine Public Broadcasting Network's Maine Experience, and the Martha Stewart television show. He lives and works in Bar Harbor and Liberty, Maine, with his wife, Judith Bradshaw Brown.