#penobscot — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #penobscot, aggregated by home.social.
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Hype for the Future 63U: Places to Stay in Camden, Maine
Introduction The Town of Camden is a surprisingly significant tourist draw located in Knox County, Maine, along the Penobscot Bay. Despite not having the typical services associated with resort communities across the nation, the community of Camden may be silently welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community in many of the following lodging options: Places to Stay (Not an Exhaustive List) Elm Street / Main Street / U.S. Route 1 (South to North) Cedar Crest Inn Elms of Camden Blackberry […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/01/02/hype-for-the-future-63u-places-to-stay-in-camden-maine/
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#Sovereignty Starts Here: Land, Economy, and #TribalRights in #Maine
James Myall
October 14, 2025"Maine has profited from centuries of #Wabanaki land loss. Supporting land return and sovereignty reforms is both a moral responsibility and a smart economic investment.
This report focuses on the fundamental importance of land acquisition and usage to lay out an economic case for fully recognizing the #WabanakiNations’ inherent sovereignty.
Key Facts
- For at least 13,000 years, Wabanaki people and their ancestors have cared for this region’s land, water, and natural resources through sustainable stewardship.
- About 12.5 million acres of Wabanaki territory, valued at $105 billion in 1976, were claimed by Maine before rulings showed the claims were based on invalid treaties. Between 1820 and 1980,
- Maine extracted hundreds of millions in profits from tribal land seizures and sales, resource exploitation, tourism, and taxes — without compensating the Wabanaki Nations.
- The 1980 Settlement Acts ended the federal land claims case but left the Wabanaki Nations uniquely constrained compared to other federally recognized tribes, granting the state unusual control over their affairs and sparking decades of contention over unfulfilled promises.
- The Federal government contributed $26.8 million each to trust funds for #Passamaquoddy and #Penobscot Nations to purchase a maximum of 150,000 acres each, and $900,000 for the Houlton Band of #Maliseet Indians to purchase 5,000 acres. But the funds were exhausted before the full amount of land could be secured. #Maine did not contribute any funds to the settlement.
- The federal land acquisition funding was based on a calculation of $181 per acre. A recent purchase on behalf of the Penobscot Nation was valued at more than $1,000 per acre.
- The #Mikmaq Nation did not receive any federal funding for land acquisition until 1991. Today, the Mi’kmaq Nation still faces more land acquisition restrictions than other Wabanaki Nations.
- In contrast to efforts across North America to foster tribal sovereignty, the Settlement Acts lock the Wabanaki in an outdated system that blocks access to federal programs and about $4.6 million in funding per year, limits land acquisition and usage, and stifles economic growth.
- Between 1989 and 2020, tribes in the US with full recognition of their sovereign authority had six times greater income growth per capita than Wabanaki Nations.
- Modernizing the Settlement Acts could add $330 million to Maine’s GDP each year, create 2,700 new jobs, and generate $51 million in state and local tax revenue.
- Collaboration between Wabanaki Nations and non-native organizations will secure the return of over 50,000 acres to Wabanaki communities. But the state and federal government can and should do far more to fund and facilitate land return."Source:
www.mecep.org/maines-economy/sovereignty-starts-here/#WabanakiNations #IndigenousSovereignty #MaineTribes #PassamaquoddyNation #PenobscotNation #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians #MikmaqNation #Maine #LandBack #SettlementAct
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The final #APCAW presentation is Thursday, July 12th. #Penobscot #basketmaker and founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, #TheresaSecord will be the guest speaker.
APCAW was kind enough to provide me with a link to last week's video and a PDF guide from the conference. I will be looking through the guide and will post about some of the key points at a later date.
Even though the conference is free, pre-registration is required.
To register:
https://maineaudubon.org/events/everything-ash-webinar-series-june12/Link to June 5th presentation video (including the bit I missed with #RichardSilliboy):
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/n63rnkAomz4AitHdAfBRC1hbSMCS2fuFUrQ7HU2UfP5gmrJiXoLREHE5UePF9EWU.TQktDNJCVGQMJjfu#EmeraldAshBorer #AshTrees #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #NativeAmericanBasketry #Sustainability #IndigenousStewardship #CulturalPreservation #InvasiveSpecies #EAG #PreservingNature #Biodiversity #TEK #TIK #TraditionalIndigenousKnowledge #Basketry #PreservingTheSacred #PreservingTheForest #WabanakiConfederacy
#Wabanakik #WabanakiAlliance #MaineFirstNations #MaineWoods #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledgeStewards -
With everything that's going on with the #MemoryHole, I suggest everyone archive any articles of interest from US government websites -- while you still can! I found this gem -- and archived it!
Designing Tools and Networks to Support #Wabanaki Adaptive Capacity for #ClimateChange
By Climate Adaptation Science Centers December 31, 2020
"Wabanaki Tribal Nations (#Maliseet, #Micmac, #Passamaquoddy, and #Penobscot) and other Tribal Nations in the #NortheastCASC region will face a disproportionate impact from climate change. These impacts will affect resources such as forestry products, fish, game, wild crops, and water that are important to tribal economies and well-being. To combat this, varying levels of tribal community preparedness and the ability to build effective adaptive capacity to extreme events will be crucial for future resiliency efforts. Furthermore, there is a pressing need to work with partners who have a variety of backgrounds to plan, strategize, build and implement resiliency initiatives in tribal communities and identify innovative ways that integrate local knowledge, technology, and science in a manner that traditional and cultural identities are tied.
"Using Indigenous Research Methods, Native American Programs at the University of Maine will align research questions, data collection methods, outputs, and research protocols with Wabanaki people, knowledge, and values to build a regional tribal network for climate change adaptation and create a Wabanaki Climate Adaptation and Adaptive Management Workbook. This project will work with and inform a Regional Climate Change Tribal Network to identify research and output goals and objectives using indigenous values and science related to both the network building and the Workbook.
"The Regional Network will consist of a diverse group of collaborators representing tribal harvesters, tribal environmental staff, intertribal and regional government entities, academic staff and tribal scholars from the University of Maine, and tribal elders and language speakers from each community to integrate a framework that will include indigenous and traditional knowledge, culture, language and history into the adaptation planning process. The primary output of this work, a Climate Adaptation and Adaptive Management Workbook, will identify examples of culturally appropriate adaptative management in responding to climate change, and identify tools for future Wabanaki Tribal leaders and communities to respond to future climate changes."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/ssSKw
#SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #TEK #ClimateChange #WabanakiConfederacy #ClimateChangeAdaptation #TIK #TraditionalIndigenousKnowledge #IndigenousPeoplesDay -
#SandDune Vote:
Some Tribal Perspectives on
Proposed Wind Port on #Wahsumkik“..For both #Wabanaki people and non Wabanaki people...It has a great amount of history. It's ecologically sensitive and important to the #ecosystem of our coast...” - Darren Ranco,
PhD, #Penobscot Citizen, Professor at the University of Maine, MITSC Commissioner, #Maine #ClimateCouncil committee member.April, 2024
"Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik) is the largest #undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, and considered important to #BirdMigration. Construction of a wind port operation would require the destruction of 70 acres of #forest and would impact a yet to be assessed area of marine eel grass. The destruction of a sand dune was
reportedly missed in a first assessment of the site, thus prompting the Governor's bill."https://allianceforsearsisland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/tribal-perspective.pdf
#ProtectSearsIsland #WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag #WednesdaysForWildlife -
Monday Sand Dune Vote: Some Tribal Perspectives on Proposed Wind Port on #Wahsumkik
“..For both #Wabanaki people and non Wabanaki people…It has a great amount of history. It’s ecologically sensitive and important to the ecosystem of our coast…”
– Darren Ranco, PhD, Penobscot Citizen, Professor at the University of Maine, MITSC Commissioner, Maine Climate Council committee member.
via Sunlight Media, April 2, 2024"On Monday, the full Maine Legislature is expected to vote on #LD2266, 'An Act Regarding Offshore Wind Terminals Located in Coastal Sand Dune Systems.' The bill, put forth by the Governor’s office five days before a public hearing, seeks to exempt a sand dune on #SearsIsland, in #Searsport, from current state #environmental protections to explicitly allow for the advancement of an offshore wind port and staging area on the island. Governor Mills announced last month that Sears Island is the state’s 'preferred site' for the major development, instead of the already industrialized #MackPoint, also in #Searsport.
"Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik) is the largest undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, and considered important to #bird migration. Construction of a wind port operation would require the destruction of 70 acres of#forest and would impact a yet to be assessed area of marine eel grass. The destruction of a sand dune was reportedly missed in a first assessment of the site, thus prompting the Governor’s bill.
"At the public hearing on #LD2266, #Passamaquoddy Representative to the Maine Legislature #AaronDana, expressed opposition to the bill and deep concern for the unstudied impacts of off shore wind operations and the siting of a staging development and port on Wahsumkik/Sears Island.
"'These projects are often driven by the profit motives that prioritize corporate interests over the well being of the Indigenous people of Maine and the surrounding communities of non-tribal members alike….The push for the offshore wind project energies, the offshore wind energy must be critically examined from a #Native perspective, taking into account the profound impacts on our environment, our culture, and our communities.'
"'The installation and the operation of the offshore wind turbines often encroach upon sacred sites and areas of cultural significance. This project, especially for the #Penobscot Tribal territory, these places hold deep spiritual value for our community and are integral to our cultural identity. The industrialization of these areas not only desecrates our sacred sites, but they also erode our cultural heritage and the connection to the land and the sea.'"Information shared by Citizens To Protect Sears Island:
VOTE NO ON LD 2266
SEARS ISLAND is NOT the ONLY OPTION for OFFSHORE WIND.1) There has been no environmental impact study for Sears Island, and available environmental assessments that support development of the Island. However multiple assessments are available that discourage port development of any kind on the Island.
2) Sears Island has been deemed to have significant ecological value, invaluable capacity for future carbon sequestration, as well as many rare species, which are all necessary for future climate resilience. [The Resilient Land Mapping Tool, The Nature Conservancy, TNC Screenshots 2010, TNC Screenshots 2050]
3) Mack Point is the fastest option to permit and construct a wind port in Penobscot Bay that meets the 100-acre size requirement. Environmental permits will be granted without delay as the site is industrialized with limited ecological value. If expansion is required over time, collaboration may occur with the old mill site in Bucksport for smaller components, economically uplifting the entire region.
4) The MDOT has not considered the most recent Sprague Energy site use proposal, but it is a further improvement of the Moffatt and Nichols Report of 2023.
5) Construction costs at Mack Point are equivalent, or less than Sears Island ($400 to $500 million). [Moffatt and Nichols Report 2023]. It is NOT TRUE that Sears Island will be cheaper to develop because the State owns the land. The State is not factoring in costs that will be associated with development or operation. For example, causeway expansion and mitigation for wetland loss.
6) Dredging needed at Mack Point is minimal compared to Sears Island, with less potential sediment contamination. [Moffatt and Nichols Report 2023], [2021 Maine DOT OSW port Infrastructure Feasibility Study – Concept Design Report 11-17-2021]
7) Developing Mack Point has strong support from the regional community.
#CulturalGenocide #WabanakiAlliance #Maine #WindTurbines #ProtectTheForest
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The Repatriation Project
Tribes in #Maine Spent Decades Fighting to Rebury Ancestral Remains. Harvard Resisted Them at Nearly Every Turn.
by Mary Hudetz and Ash Ngu
Dec. 4, 5 a.m. EST"Donna Augustine was in tears as she read the letter from Harvard University that winter morning in 2013. Looking around the room inside an elementary school on Indian Island, Maine, she saw other elders and leaders from the four Wabanaki tribes were also devastated as they read that the university was denying their request to repatriate ancestral remains to their tribes.
"The Wabanaki tribal nations — an alliance of the #Penobscot, #Passamaquoddy, #Maliseet and #Mikmaq — wanted to rebury the ancestral remains. But Harvard’s #PeabodyMuseum of Archaeology and Ethnology said, as it had in past years, that the tribes didn’t have enough evidence to show that they could be tied, through culture or lineage, to the ancestors whose remains the museum held.
"The denial felt like a rejection of Wabanaki identity for Augustine, a Mi’kmaq grandmother, who had spent years urging Harvard to release Native American remains.
"'Every one of us in that room was crying,' she recalled. 'We jumped through every hoop.'
"The group representing the only four tribal nations in present-day Maine had furnished a deeply researched report documenting their histories in the region, even sharing closely held stories passed down within their tribes from one generation to the next that told of their ancient ties to Maine’s lakes, islands and forests.
"Now they could see it hadn’t been enough for Harvard, which especially prized the remains of 43 ancestors buried for thousands of years near Maine’s Blue Hill Bay.
"Complicating matters for the tribes, another museum, the similarly named but smaller Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, housed on the campus of the #PhillipsAcademy, a Massachusetts preparatory school, held items from the same ancient burial site.
"Instead of sending a letter as Harvard did, the Phillips Academy museum director, Ryan Wheeler, had asked to meet with the tribes. Seated at the table that morning, he was initially uncertain what he would do. He would later say that it became evident during the meeting that the tribes exhibited a strong connection to the ancestors they sought to claim, both from the report they had provided and their reaction to Harvard’s decision.
"He recalled leaving the meeting certain he would repatriate. 'There was really no question about it,' he later said.
"What the Wabanaki committee and Wheeler didn’t know, however, was just how hard Harvard would push back. In the two years that followed, the director of the Harvard museum went to surprising lengths to pressure Wheeler to reverse his decision.
"A #ProPublica investigation this year into repatriation has shown how some of the nation’s #elite museums have used their power and vast resources to delay returning ancestral remains and sacred objects under the #NativeAmericanGraves Protection and Repatriation Act. By exploiting loopholes in the 1990 law, anthropologists overruled tribes’ evidence showing their ties to the oldest ancestral remains in museums’ collections. We’ve also shown that museums and universities have delayed repatriations while allowing destructive analyses — like DNA extractions — on ancestral remains over the objections of tribes.
"Harvard, where the remains of an estimated 5,500 Native Americans are stored at the Peabody Museum, used these loopholes over the span of three decades to prolong the Wabanaki tribes’ repatriation process while remaining in technical compliance with the 1990 law, our review found.
"For Augustine and her colleagues, few things were more frustrating than knowing that NAGPRA had empowered museums to decide whether Indigenous people had a valid connection to their ancestors. These were the same institutions that had collected the human remains and objects from ancestral burial sites. Despite NAGPRA’s intent to give Indigenous people say over ancestral remains, institutions still made the final decisions on whether to repatriate.
"'The wolves are in charge of how to deal with the sheep,' said #DarrellNewell, a former vice chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe who helped create the Wabanaki Intertribal Repatriation Committee to accelerate negotiations with the institutions. 'It’s just not a good way.'
"Harvard in recent years has apologized and promised to speed repatriation, saying it aims to repatriate all #NativeAmerican remains and the items once buried with them within the next three years and recently doubled staffing in the Peabody Museum’s repatriation office. However, the school has yet to return more than half of the human remains it reported holding under NAGPRA, according to federal data from November. Only two institutions, of the hundreds that must comply with NAGPRA, hold more human remains than Harvard."
#Repatriation #NativeAmericans #Wabanaki #WabanakiConfederacy #HarvardUniversity #CulturalGenocide
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#Tribal #sovereignty bill falters as #Maine lawmakers fail to override governor’s veto
By DAVID SHARP
Published 1:13 PM EDT, July 6, 2023AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — "Maine lawmakers failed Thursday to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would have expanded the sovereignty of #NativeAmerican tribes in the state by ensuring more federal laws apply to them.
"It’s a defeat for the tribes, which are bound by a land claims settlement that puts them on different footing than the nation’s other 570 federally recognized tribes.
"Both chambers had voted to enact the bill with big-enough majorities to override the veto, but some House members backtracked under pressure by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. She contends the bill was vague and would lead to lengthy and contentious litigation in coming years.
"But the tribes increasingly see [Gov Mills] as standing in the way of changes they say are necessary to improve their lives. Last week, Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis said he thinks the governor wants 'to protect an old guard and old mindset' by maintaining the status quo. And Dana, the tribal representative, said Thursday that some of the governor’s comments about the legislation were 'dangerous and misleading.'
"A bill to provide full sovereignty to the tribes this session is being held over, meaning it’ll be dealt with by lawmakers next year.
"Tribal leaders were optimistic about the future.
"'We were never going to take a step backwards when it comes to our sovereignty. We’re always going to be taking a step forward,' Dana after the vote."Francis of the #PenobscotNation added: 'Though today was a loss on the floor of the House, we’re confident moving forward we will only gain greater support.'"
#MaineTribes #Sovereignty #Penobscot #Passamaquoddy #WabanakiConfederacy #Maliseet #IndigenousNews #MaineSettlementAct #FirstNations #NativeAmericanNews
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Update - Unfortunately Gov #JanetMills vetoed this bill! Now she's trying to make nice!
#Maine Legislature vote expands #sovereignty for #NativeAmerican tribes
Story by DAVID SHARP, Associated Press, June 22, 2023
"Native American tribes in Maine took an important step toward greater sovereignty as the state Legislature voted to let most federal laws apply to #Wabanaki tribes, putting them on the same footing as other federally recognized tribes across the country.
"Both the Maine House and Senate approved the bill with enough support [from both Democrats and Republicans] Wednesday to overcome a potential veto of the bill.
“Today signifies a landmark victory in the pursuit of Wabanaki self-determination," Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis said Thursday in a statement. The Penobscot are one member of the Wabanaki Nations, which encompasses Indigenous peoples living in what is now Maine.
"Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has opposed the bill, sponsored by House Speaker #RachelTalbotRoss, expressing concerns that it could lead to confusion and lawsuits. Her office had no immediate comment on the legislative action.
"#Tribes in Maine are set apart from the other 570 federally recognized tribes across the country because of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, which stipulates they’re bound by state law and treats tribal reservations much like municipalities. That 1980 settlement for the #Passamaquoddy, #Penobscot and #Maliseet, along with a 1991 agreement for the Mi’kmaq, set the tribes apart from others in the country."
Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/maine-tribes-federal-law-sovereignty-f18ce758d9d8918ef0cd00f05ee741f5#MainePol #NativeAmericanNews #Sovereignty #MaineSettlementAct #Mikmaq #FirstNations #LandBack
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#Wabanaki Tribes Make Case for Self-Determination in Historic Address Before Legislature
By Dan Neumann, March 22, 2023
"For the first time in state history, leaders of all the Wabanaki Nations addressed both chambers of the Maine State Legislature on Thursday. They called for recognition in law and policy of Wabanaki inherent sovereignty.
"Underscoring a rift between the tribes and Gov. Janet Mills on the issue of tribal self-determination, the Democratic governor was not in attendance. In contrast, Congressman Jared Golden, a Democrat from Lewiston who sponsored federal legislation to give the tribes more rights, listened to the address from the floor of the Maine House.
"'The blood sweat and tears of our ancestors run through this land and it will continue to do so for generations to come,' #Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis said as part of a State of the Tribes address. 'We are not going anywhere. All we want is for the state government to break decisively from the past and join the era of self-determination for tribal nations that has proven so successful throughout the rest of the country.'
"'We are capable of self-governance and should be treated as partners rather than threats to the future of the state,' Francis added. 'We want a relationship with the state government that is based on mutual trust, fidelity and respect.'"
#PenobscotNation #Maliseet #Passamaquoddy #Mikmaq #FirstNations #IndigenousNews #MaineTribes #Wabanaki #WabanakiConfederacy #NativeAmericans