Part of the Algonquin Nation, the Abenaki Peoples settled in the area now referred to as the Eastern Townships for its good hunting and fishing, as well as the presence of favorable canoe routes. Thriving off the natural advantages of the region, the Abenakis continued to flourish until the 1500's, reaching a population of 40,000 when epidemics began to seriously affect their numbers due to contact with European fishermen. The Abenaki Peoples were exiled from New England at the end of King Phillip’s War (Abenaki’s revolting against the British) in 1676, which dispersed the population and allowed them to be enclosed in European-style villages, designed for religious conversion, throughout Eastern Canada, and more specifically, Becancour, in the Eastern Townships, where in 1711, they totaled 1040.

The British continued to assault the Abenaki culture throughout the eighteenth century beginning with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, which further removed territory from the Abenaki’s and caused great amounts of tension between the two groups. Along with the continuous forced settlement relocation, the Abenaki Peoples also continued to lose their land and access to their natural resources, which seriously affected the preservation of their culture.

In an attempt to settle the Abenaki’s as farmers, the British granted them 8000 acres of land in Dunham County, which they in turn sold to white settlers, as they had no need for this unfamiliar land and life. Instead, the Abenaki Peoples chose to settle near Trois Rivières and Lake St. Peter, where they worked as scouts and tracking guides for the Americans and British who were also settling the area. They also sold meat, pelts and baskets, which caused many to move once again, this time to America, where their goods were not taxed by the British. The final Abenaki settlement in the Eastern Townships is in the village of Pierreville, where their population was around 1000 after the American Revolution and is estimated to now be 12,000. The continuous upheaval of the Abenaki Peoples in the Eastern Townships formed in indelible impression on the land and culture of the region and shaped the phases of settlement that would follow.