Editing Penobscot (section)

===Pre-contact===
Indigenous peoples are thought to have inhabited Maine and surrounding areas for at least 11,000 years.<ref>''The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes''. [[American Friends Service Committee]], 1989.</ref> They had a hunting-gathering society, with the men hunting beaver, otters, moose, bears, caribou, fish, seafood (clams, mussels, fish), birds, and possibly marine mammals such as seals. The women gathered and processed bird eggs, berries, nuts, and roots, all of which were found locally.<ref name="wmm">''Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes''{{full|date=October 2022}}</ref>

People on the present-day Maine coast practiced some agriculture, but not to the same extent as that of Indigenous peoples in southern [[New England]], where the climate was more temperate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sr |first1=Francis |last2=Eric |first2=James |title=Burnt Harvest: Penobscot People and Fire |journal=Maine History |date=2008 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=4–18 |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistoryjournal/vol44/iss1/2/ }}</ref> Food was potentially scarce only toward the end of the winter, in February and March. For the rest of the year, the Penobscot and other Wabanaki likely had little difficulty surviving because the land and ocean waters offered much bounty, and the number of people was sustainable.<ref name="wmm"/> The bands moved seasonally, following the patterns of game and fish.