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By Jill Cole and Kasey Knowles
Father Rasle was a catholic priest originally from France, who lived in Norridgewock, helping the Abenakis. Letters that Father Rasle had written to his his nephew have been gathered with the purpose of keeping for further generations to read and learn about the past. Father Rasle wrote to his nephew from Nonrantsouack, meaning Norridgewock, " For thirty years I've lived in the midst of the forest and with the savages. I have instructed them and informing them to their Christian virtues. I'm in the district that lies between Acadia and New England. By mixing berries with an equal quantity of tallow, you can make beautiful candles that are firm and excellent for use. I have composed some prayers to alter the minds of the savages. These prayers are of the natures. I teach catechism to the children and young people. The rest of the morning is set for listening to the people that need to talk to me. Usually people want to talk to me about their pains, their anxieties, jobs, their marriage and personal affairs. In the afternoons I visit the sick and check the cabins to check who needs some special attention. At night, for dinner we have huge feasts, which whoever is invited MUST bring one plate of wood or bark and then I give the benediction upon the meats. Some nights I hardly have time to say my prayers and get rest. The savages go to the sea in pursuit to find geese and birds. Then they build a church on the island, which is next to their little cabin for their residence. My food is simple and light. I've never been able to taste meat and smoked fish, my nourishment is nothing, but Indian corn." Father Rasle was a strong believer in Christianity, not only did he teach religion, he devoted his time totally to the well being of the Abenakis. Father Rasle lived among the Norridgewocks for thirty-four years. Father Rasle built a chapel and furnished it with objects needed for celebrating mass. He was an artist and he painted pictures of religious subjects. The natives were fond of a bell that Father Rasle had. The natives wished that when they rang the bell, it sang as sweetly as it did when in father Rasles hands. One day the English took his strong box full of incriminating letters . These letters were to said to have encouraged the Norridgewocks to fight against the English. The English felt that Father Rasle was stirring up the Native Americans and encouraging them to be violent against them. Father Rasle wanted to represent the wishes of the Abenakis and be their spokesman to stand up for what was right. The definition of land ownership was very different for the English than the Abenakis so land deals never worked. The Abenakis believed that the lands were there to share, and to hunt on, as needed to to live but the English wanted to own it and keep anyone off that they chose. Finally, the English under the leadership of Captain Moulton and Harmon, decided in 1724, to leave Swan's Island to go up the Kennebec and attack the village of Norridgewock. On the evening of August 21, the soldiers surprised Chief Bomazeen and his maiden. They killed the woman and a child, and Bomazeen ran to warn the others in the village. He was shot down in the river where it is still today called "Bomazeen Rips".Around noon on the 22 day of August, the soldiers encircled the small village. They found that most of the men were out hunting and the only ones left were the women, children and the old people. They opened fire and the sight that followed was terrible. The Abenakis ran towards the river and were all shot down turning the river red with blood. Eighty innocent people were killed that sad day. None of Moulton or Harmons men were killed. They took a few captive young boys and 28 scalps including Father Rasles to parade around Boston and brag of the killing. The Abenakis went back to Canada after that but returned years later. However, the village was never the same, and eventually they all went to other parts of Maine.
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