The
Passamaquoddy (
Peskotomuhkati or
Pestomuhkati in the Passamaquoddy language) are a
First Nations (Native American) people who live in northeastern
North America, primarily in
Maine and
New Brunswick. The Passamaquoddy had a purely oral history before the arrival of Europeans, and occupied coastal regions along the
Bay of Fundy,
Passamaquoddy Bay and
Gulf of Maine and along the
St. Croix River and its tributaries. They dispersed and hunted inland in the winter; in the summer, they gathered more closely together on the coast and islands, and primarily harvested seafood, including
porpoise. The name "Passamaquoddy" is an Anglicization of the Passamaquoddy word
peskotomuhkati, the
prenoun form (prenouns being a linguistic feature of
Algonquian languages) of
Peskotomuhkat (
pestəmohkat), the name they applied to themselves. Peskotomuhkat literally means "pollock-spearer" or "those of the place where pollock are plentiful", reflecting the importance of this fish. Their method of
fishing was spear-fishing rather than angling.