There are two well-known Abenaki communities in Quebec, Odanak and Wolinak. There is also a community known as Missisquoi in Vermont, U.S.A., on the Quebec border. The Abenaki people are members of the Great Wôbanaki Confederacy.
According to ancient stories of the Wôlinak Abenaki, the beads used to make the belts were given to them by Kchi Niwaskw (The Master of Life). The medicine people gathered around a fire one night to pray to the Creator for help in making the Wôbôbial Belts. They smoked their pipes and suddenly the beads started coming out of their mouths.
Wôbôbial Belts are not used for recording events; they are far more complex. They were teaching tools meant to be used by, and for, the people, to live in harmony with all living beings on Earth and throughout the Universe. The belts and the knowledge needed to use them came from Kchi Niwaskw.
Like us, Wôbôbial Belts are living things and should be cared for and respected in a sacred way. Today we see the revival of our old ways and with it some of the original instructions for using the belts and taking care of them.