Cowasuck

Cowasuck was the name of a Western Abenaki people and of their principal settlement on the upper Connecticut River. Their name comes from Goasek, the “place of the white pines,” and the people were known as Goasiak. The valley lay on a route between Canada and the coast, and its communities were drawn into the struggles of French and English colonial powers.

In 1704 Cowasuck representatives met the governor of New France, who suggested that they move north to avoid the English. They declined. Warfare nevertheless brought danger to the valley, and by 1712 Cowass was deserted. Later French maps marked it as an old village; it may have been occupied again after peace returned. By the end of the century many Cowasuck had joined the Abenaki at St. Francis in Quebec, while continuing to hunt and fish in their former country.