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Paddling to Nanrantsouak

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After launching into the Kennebec River at Oosoola Park in Norridgewock, Maine, I headed upriver passing under the pictured bridge...my destination, the historic Native American Wabanaki village known as Nanrantsouak.  The name is said to have meant "still water between the rapids" or possibly "by the rapids".  About 3 miles upriver from the bridge I paddled through the nowadays mostly submerged rapids of Bombazee Rips which may have been one of the two rapids framing the still water.  After approximately 7 miles of paddling I reached the mouth of  the Sandy River and landed on the small island at its confluence with the Kennebec.  From there I looked across to Old Point where the palisaded Wabanaki village of Nanrantsouak once stood on a broad plateau behind the trees...  In addition to wigwams the village included a mission church maintained there by the Jesuit Order (aka "Black Robes") dating back to the mid 1600s.   The setting was idyllic wit