Pennacook

Pennacook was both a village on the Merrimack River and the name of a network of allied Algonquian communities across northern New England. The name has been interpreted as “at the bottom of the hill.” Their communities were related to the Abenaki and other peoples to the north, though they did not form a single politically united tribe.

Epidemics weakened the Pennacook after European contact, and their communities faced raids from the west and north. Their leader Passaconaway sought peace with the English to avoid further deaths. His successor Wonalancet tried to remain neutral during King Philip's War, though other bands fought. Afterward, colonists enslaved captives and survivors dispersed toward Schaghticoke, the Hudson Valley and Quebec; some joined Abenaki communities.

The later city of Concord lies here.