#wabanakik — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #wabanakik, aggregated by home.social.
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From #MaineMorningStar: Governor, #Maine Democratic Party on Health Care, Immigration Enforcement, Housing, Energy, Taxes, #TribalSovereignty
"Tribal Sovereignty
What is your position on tribal sovereignty?
#ShennaBellows (D)
Shenna Bellows supports restoring full sovereignty to the #WabanakiNations.#TroyJackson (D)
Troy Jackson supports restoring full sovereignty to the #WabanakiNations, a position reflected in his legislative record. Despite the setbacks, he said he is proud that Maine was able to pass laws to support economic development, improve access to clean drinking water, recognize the exclusive jurisdiction of tribal courts, and enshrine protections for Wabanaki children and their families into state law.#AngusKingIII (D)
No response. [NO SURPRISE!]#HannahPingree (D)
Hannah Pingree supports restoring full sovereignty to the Wabanaki Nations and believes the Wabanaki Nations deserve the same rights and opportunities as every other federally recognized tribe. She said she has partnered with Tribal leaders and governments on issues like climate resilience and clean energy, and she would work to expand collaboration on economic development, health care, infrastructure, natural resources, and environmental protection.#NiravShah (D)
Nirav Shah supports restoring full sovereignty to the Wabanaki Nations. At the Maine CDC, Shah said he worked side by side with #WabanakiLeaders, including on #PFAS and #EnvironmentalThreats, and saw firsthand that our state does its best work when it listens first and #collaborates with the Tribes in good faith and in true partnership.#MaineGovernor #MainePol #Elections2026 #TribalRights #Wabanakik #WabanakiSovereignty
#LandBack #Dawnland #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #WabanakiConfederacy -
#Maine - Gubernatorial Candidates Take Part in #WabanakiAlliance Forum
"Eight gubernatorial candidates and more than 150 people attended the Wabanaki Alliance 2026 Gubernatorial Forum March 19 at the Houlton Community Resource Center. Hosted by the #HoultonBandOfMalisset Indians, the forum included eight candidates who responded to questions from moderators and forum attendees about nonpartisan issues and policy affecting the #WabanakiNations.
"Candidates received questions from #MaulianBryant, citizen of the #PenobscotNation and executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance; #MalleahBrown, a citizen of the #PassamaquoddyTribe at #Motahkomikuk and youth lead with the #WabanakiYouth Policy Initiative; and #OsihkiyolCroftonMacdonald, #HoultonBand of Maliseet Indians Ambassador and president of the Wabanaki Alliance Board. #ClarissaSabattis, Tribal Chief of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, made opening and closing remarks.
"Participating candidates included (in alphabetical order)
- #ShennaBellows (D)
- #RickBennett (I)
- #JohnGlowa (I)
- #TroyJackson (D)
- #DerekLevasseur (I)
- #HannahPingree (D)
- #NiravShah (D)
- #AngusKingIII (D)"The primary election for Democratic and Republican candidates is Tuesday, June 9. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3."
Source:
https://wabanakialliance.com/gubernatorial-candidates-forum-2026/Recording of the forum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLzaxN-YE7k&t=29s#MaineGovernor #MainePol #Elections2026 #TribalRights #Wabanakik #WabanakiSovereignty
#LandBack #Dawnland #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #WabanakiConfederacy -
#Maine - #WabanakiAlliance holds U.S. Senate candidate forum, participants discuss gaps in #IndigenousEducation
By Arianna Perdomo on April 20, 2026
"Democratic U.S. Senate candidates #DavidCostello and #GrahamPlatner outlined their positions on tribal sovereignty and education during a debate organized by the Wabanaki Alliance on April 16 on Indian Island in Old Town, which is home of the #PenobscotNation. The event was hosted by Penobscot Nation members and offered a chance to discuss non-partisan policy affecting #WabanakiNations and candidates’ plans to support those communities.
"Located less than 15 minutes from the #UniversityOfMaine, #IndianIsland sits along the #PenobscotRiver. This reservation serves as a cultural and historical center for the Penobscot people. Within the community there are buildings and museums that reflect ongoing preservation efforts of Wabanaki culture. According to the Wabanaki Alliance, the Penobscot Nation is one of the oldest continuous governments in the world and remains committed to protecting territories, culture and language as a federally recognized #SovereignNation.
"The debate was moderated by Dr. #DarrenRanco, chair of the #NativeAmerican programs at #UMaine. Notably, Democratic candidate Gov. #JanetMills and five-term Republican candidate Sen. #SusanCollins were extended invitations to participate, but were not in attendance. However, Costello and Platner offered insight on their approach to ongoing issues facing Wabanaki nations.
"Opening remarks were delivered by #MaulianBryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance and Chief of the Penobscot Indian Nation, #KirkFrancis. Each candidate then gave a five minute opening introduction explaining why they are running.
"The first round of the debate consisted of eight questions surrounding topics of tribal sovereignty, environmental justice, regulation and the implementation of legislation that would help address these issues. Costello and Platner agreed that there needs to be a restructuring of the government and a new balance of power. Both candidates stated that they would support legislation that helped extend the power to engage the Wabanaki people in issues that are important to them."
Recording of the forum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yvkISNZEc&t=74s#USSenate #UselessSusanCollins #MainePol #Elections2026 #TribalRights #Wabanakik #WabanakiSovereignty
#WabanakiCulturalPreservation #WabanakiHistory #NativeAmericanHistory #CulturalPreservation #WabanakiConfederacy -
#WabanakiAlliance U.S. 2nd Congressional District Candidate Forum
Recording of the forum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5TB0RswfWQ#Maine2ndDistrict #MainePol #Elections2026 #TribalRights #Wabanakik #WabanakiSovereignty
#LandBack #Dawnland #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #WabanakiConfederacy -
Dems in #Maine’s #2ndDistrict race tackle #tribal topics in #PresqueIsleME
By Cameron Levasseur, May 13, 2026
"The four Democrats competing in a June primary to face former Gov. #PaulLePage for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District met Wednesday night in Presque Isle at a forum put on by the #WabanakiAlliance to discuss tribal sovereignty and other issues facing the state’s native population.
"Hosted by the #MikmaqNation, one of Maine’s four #WabanakiNations, the event lasted two hours and covered a broad range of topics, from #WaterRights to gaming legislation to the teaching of #NativeHistory in Maine’s schools.
"The candidates — State Auditor #MattDunlap, state Sen. #JoeBaldacci, former political operative #JordanWood and social worker #PaigeLoud — agreed on nearly everything, chiefly in their wholehearted support of #TribalSovereignty.
"#Sovereignty has dominated the political conversation around Maine’s tribes for years, with majority support for its expansion in the state legislature countered by opposition from the state’s executive leaders, including LePage and then Gov. #JanetMills.
" 'Only when I worked on these issues federally … did I understand how wrong Maine has been to its tribes and the need to rectify that #injustice,' Wood said.
If elected, all four said they would reintroduce a 2022 bill put forth by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, to amend the #MaineIndianClaimsSettlementAct of 1980 and give the Wabanaki the same rights under federal law as the 570 #FederallyRecognizedTribes.
"Golden currently represents the 2nd District but abruptly announced last fall that he would not seek reelection. His bill failed in the Senate after it was blocked by Sen. #AngusKing, another Maine politician who has expressed skepticism at tribal rights expansions."Archived version:
https://archive.ph/zXhzT#MainePol #Elections2026 #TribalRights #Wabanakik #WabanakiSovereignty #LandBack #Dawnland #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #WabanakiConfederacy
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Personally, I'd love to see #LandBack here in "New England", especially #Maine (#Wabanakik / #Dawnland). I don't have a problem with NOT polluting #MotherEarth, or having to abide by #Wabanaki laws. I know what the #WabanakiAlliance is all about and fully support their decisions and governance.
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#MaineSettlementAct was a raw deal for #Maine #FirstNations... And #GeorgeMitchell helped to write it! Just leaving that here...
"Two key players in the passage of the legislation were U.S. Sens. Bill Cohen and George Mitchell. Attorney Tim Woodcock, who was from Bangor, was appointed by Cohen to the Indian Affairs Committee."
George J. Mitchell Papers · The Drafting and Enactment of the Maine Settlement Act
Memo from James Case (staffer to Senator Muskie, and then to Senator Mitchell). This memo is probably addressed to Senator George J. Mitchell, and has a White House analysis of Bill S. 2829 attached. (06/13/1980)
https://maineindianclaims.omeka.net/items/show/6
#EpsteinFiles #USPol #LandBack #Wabanakik #MaineTribes #WabanakiConfederacy
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I'd rather see the #PenobscotNation obtain more land near #MooseheadLake than #MarkZuckerberg !
#LandBack #BillionairesOut #TaxTheRich #BillionaireTax #GoToMars! #StayOutOfMaine #Wabanakik #Dawnland #NotaxHavens #MaineIsNotABillionairesPlayground
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#MaineTribes - #FoodAssistance / #FoodPantries
#IndianIslandME: St. Ann / #PenobscotNation DHS Food Pantry
Location: 16 Wabanaki Way, Indian Island
Days and Hours: Fridays 9:00 am. - 1:00 pm.
Contact: Natasha Fields 207-817-7492 or (cell) 207-745-2907 for emergencies#LittletonME: #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians
Location: 88 Bell road, Littleton
Days and Hours: Monday - Friday 7:00 - 4:30
Contact: Ashley Foster-Kinney 207-694-5254Littleton: Maliseet Housing Authority
Location: 13 Clover Court, Littleton
Days and Hours: By Appointment
Contact: Amanda Sabattus 207-532-7260#PerryME: #Passamaquoddy Food Pantry
Location: 22 Bayview Dr., Perry
Days and Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday Noon - 4:30 pm. & Wednesday 9:00 am. - 3:00 pm.
Contact: Diane Libby 207-853-5139#PresqueIsleME: #Mikmaq Food Pantry
Location: 37 Midway Drive, Presque Isle
Days and Hours: Call Monday - Friday 8:00 - 4:00 pm. Pantry Monday - Friday - By Appointment
Contact: Roxanne Shaw & Kandi Sock 207-764-1972#Wabanaki #Wabanakik #FoodInsecurity #FoodSecurity #Dawnland #WabanakiAlliance #MaineFoodPantries #SNAP #SNAPCuts #FoodPantries #Mainers
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#PenobscotNation citizens rally in opposition to proposed expansion of #JuniperRidgeLandfill
Jul. 18, 2025
OLD TOWN/ALTON, #Maine (WABI) - "Penobscot Nation citizens rallied across the Penobscot County court Friday afternoon in opposition to a proposed expansion to Maine’s largest #landfill.
"The rally was in response to the #ConservationLawFoundation and the Penobscot Nation appealing an expansion to #JuniperRidgeLandfill, which will allow #CasellaWasteSystems to expand Juniper Ridge by 11.9 million cubic yards.
"According to members of the #WabanakiAlliance, the expansion would pose a threat to surrounding #TribalLands due to concerns of air and #WaterPollution surrounding the #PenobscotRiver from the landfill.
"Speakers at the rally represented citizens of the Penobscot Nation, the Wabanaki Alliance, as well as the environmental groups #Slingshot and #DontWasteME.
" 'It is incredibly powerful to see the number of people out here in opposition to this expansion and support of this appeal. We know the time for #EnvironmentalJustice is now. We need to turn the tide towards #ZeroWaste,' said #DanaColihan, Co-Executive Director of environmental group Slingshot.
" 'I just hope that the state can get serious about actual environmental justice, and Casella can implement some practices that it make it so that they don’t have to bring out of state waste to stabilize our sludge, and really find solutions instead of creating more problems with us,' stated #MaulianBryant, Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance."
Read more:
https://www.wabi.tv/2025/07/18/penobscot-nation-citizens-rally-opposition-proposed-expansion-juniper-ridge-landfill/
#AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #MaineResists #PFAS #PenobscotRiver #Casella #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Wabanakik #NativeAmericanNews #MaineNews -
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 -
So, I attended a Zoom conference on saving #Maine's #AshTrees from the #EmeraldAshBorer. Unfortunately, I missed the presentation by #RichardSilliboy (who got knocked out of the meeting by a thunderstorm), but I did find this film with him in it!
They Carry Us With Them: Richard Silliboy
by Jeremy Seifert
"This film, part of our feature multimedia story 'They Carry Us With Them: The Great Tree Migration', profiles Richard Silliboy, a tribal elder and vice chief of the #AroostookBand of #Mikmaqs, and a #BlackAsh #basketmaker. As he weaves a potato basket at his home in Littleton, Maine, Richard contemplates the arrival of the emerald ash borer and the tenuous future of this ancient art."
https://emergencemagazine.org/film/richard-silliboy/#SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #NativeAmericanBasketry #Sustainability #IndigenousStewardship #CulturalPreservation #InvasiveSpecies #EAG #PreservingNature #Biodiversity #TEK #TIK #TraditionalIndigenousKnowledge s #Basketry #PreservingTheSacred #PreservingTheForest #WabanakiConfederacy
#Wabanakik #WabanakiAlliance #MaineFirstNations #MaineWoods #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledgeSteward -
Returning land to tribes is a step towards justice and #sustainability, say #Wabanaki, #EnvironmentalActivists
by Emily Weyrauch, December 1, 2020
"Last month, the Elliotsville Foundation gave back 735 acres to the #PenobscotNation, a parcel of land that connects two Penobscot-held land plots. While this return of land is a significant milestone in terms of the work of conservation groups in Maine, it also reflects a larger shift in thinking about land ownership, from property and caretaking toward #IndigenousStewardship.
"Before European settlers arrived, the land in Maine was stewarded by the Wabanaki people—a confederacy of five nations including Penobscot, #Passamaquoddy, #Maliseet, #Mikmaq and #Abenaki.
"Early treaties between Indigenous tribes and settlers were signed, but not upheld. Early Maine court cases set the precedent for #LandTheft. The state legally prohibited treaty obligations from being published in its constitution. Ever since the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, the state government has significantly limited tribes’ sovereignty and access to ancestral lands. Now, the Maine legislature is preparing to take up a bill that would make 22 law changes to the 1980 act to promote Wabanaki sovereignty and correct the impacts of the 40-year-old piece of legislation that placed Wabanaki people in a separate category from other federally-recognized tribes.
"Currently, a vast majority—90 percent—of land in Maine is privately owned, unlike in states like Nevada, Utah and Idaho, where the vast majority of land is owned by the U.S. government. Less than one percent of Maine land is owned by #Wabanaki people.
"To many Indigenous people, the legacy of white-led conservation groups in Maine and nationwide represents a failure of true environmental stewardship.
"'Across the country, land conservation groups and land trusts participated in depopulating, cutting off Indigenous access to certain lands and resources,' said Dr. Darren Ranco, associate professor of Anthropology and coordinator of Native American Research at the University of Maine.
"Dr. Ranco said that the history of environmental protection in the U.S. starts in the 19th century and focuses on two movements: conservation and preservation.
" 'On the one hand, you have people saying, ‘You want to use the public lands wisely’ — and that often led to extreme forms of exploitation through oil and gas contracts. The other side of it was, ‘Let’s just keep it wild and preserve it as-is, as a wild space,' " said Dr. Ranco, who is a member of the Penobscot Nation. 'Ironically, both of those approaches in the 19th century sought to displace Indigenous people.'
" 'A lot of the [conservation] practices in the past actually marginalized native people, and didn’t allow for their voice to be heard, and discouraged their voices,' said Suzanne Greenlaw, a #Maliseet forestry scientist and PhD student at the University of Maine.
" 'The native approach is very much in the center—we do harvest, but we harvest in a sustainable way that actually forms a relationship with the resource,” said Greenlaw, who conducts research on the sustainable harvesting of sweetgrass by Indigenous people.
"In fact, the way that Indigenous people understand land is markedly different from western ideas of ownership.
" 'The idea of private property puts us in this framing where the land, the water, and the air, and the animals, and everything else—all our relations—are meant to serve us, they are things below us, things to dominate and control and take ownership over,' said Lokotah Sanborn, a Penobscot activist.
" 'For us, it would be absurd to say ‘I own my grandmother,’ or ‘I own my cousin,’ or ‘I own my brother.’ You don’t talk about things like that. And so when we’re talking about land ownership, it’s that same idea —these are our relations, these are things that hold a lot of significance to us,' said Sanborn.
"While the planet’s Indigenous people make up less than five percent of the global population, they manage 25 percent of its land and support 80 percent of global biodiversity, research shows.
" 'We’ve been led down this path toward climate catastrophe and the extinction of millions of species, all to drive #ExtractiveIndustries,' said Sanborn. 'If we wish to reverse these things, we need to give land back into the hands of Indigenous peoples and to respect our ability to protect those lands,' said Sanborn.
"This growing recognition of Wabanaki #stewardship is part of the mission of First Light, a group that serves to connect Wabanaki people with conservation organizations who seek to expand Wabanaki access to land. Currently, 50 organizations are participating, including #MaineAudubon and #TheNatureConservancy.
"Lucas St. Clair, president of the Elliotsville Foundation, participated in First Light’s year-long educational program before fulfilling a request by #JohnBanks, Natural Resources Director for the Penobscot Nation, to return the 735-acre property to the Penobscot Nation. This comes four years after the foundation gave 87,500 acres of land to the federal government for the establishment of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. St. Clair said the foundation currently holds 35,000 acres of land.
" 'In the grand scheme of things, this is not a lot of land,' said St. Clair, about the foundation’s recent transfer of 735 acres. 'It was more about justice, relationship-building and awareness.'
" 'You see this move toward Indigenous knowledge and practices of management and conservation that have existed for hundreds of years, and this possibility with land conservation groups and Wabanaki people having a more central role in understanding and managing the lands is coming to the fore,' said Dr. Ranco.
"And while organizations undergo the learning and transformational processes that precede giving back land, and as the legislature and courts are taking up questions of Wabanaki sovereignty and stewardship, people are working on the ground everyday to re-imagine relationships with land.
"Alivia Moore, a Penobscot community organizer with the #EasternWoodlands #Rematriation collective, said that a crucial part of the work of expanding Indigenous access to land in Maine is recognizing and restoring the history of matriarchal Indigenous societies.
" 'To restore land to Indigenous #matriarchies is to make sure that everybody has what they need on and from the earth. There’s enough for everyone,' said Moore
"With #EasternWoodlandsRematriation, Indigenous people are growing their connections to #RegenerativeFoodSystems. Whereas cultural use agreements are more formal ways Indigenous people can access resources from the private land of people and organizations, Moore said other relationships can form and strengthen even informally.
"Years ago, a white farmer offered land to Indigenous women to use for farming to restore their connection to the land. That has been an ongoing relationship that became one of mutual exchange of information and resources, shared learning and shared meals, said Moore.
"The movement to give land back to Indigenous stewardship is not confined to a single organization, legal battle, or project. For Indigenous people—and a growing number of environmental organizations—it is a step toward justice and a sustainable future.
"'Land back is not just about righting past wrongs. The point of land back is that it’s the future, if we wish to adequately address and avoid further global devastation from climate change,' said Sanborn."
#LandBack #WabanakiConfederacy #Wabanakik #WabanakiAlliance #MaineFirstNations #Maine #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #IndigenousPeoplesDay
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#AshTree Protection Collaboration Across #Wabanakik
"Ash trees, in particular brown ash (used interchangeably with black ash, Fraxinus nigra), are a cultural keystone species for Wabanaki communities and a crucial part of wetland ecosystems in the Northeast. The spread of the invasive forest pest EAB has caused 99% brown ash tree mortality in other areas of Turtle Island, and will have a considerable effect on ecosystems and traditions as it spreads through the Dawnland.
"Partners of the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik’s (APCAW) have been working for 20 years to prepare for the onset of EAB in Northeastern forests. We are committed to identifying research-informed strategies to protect the future of ash in the Dawnland that align with Wabanaki priorities. The purpose of this website is to share practical knowledge with those who seek to take actions to maintain ash on the landscape. If you’d like to receive event announcements in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter here. Read on to find information about the cultural importance of ash, seed collection efforts, and emerald ash borer (EAB) management.
Why are we called the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik?
"Our name emerged from collaborative conversations about the goals of our shared work. We decided to use the word #Wabanakik to refer to the place where we are located in an effort to center Wabanaki language and ways of knowing. Wabanakik is a term with slightly different meanings in each eastern #Algonquin language, but can be understood in English to mean either 'in the location of the land which is referred to as the #Dawnland' or 'in the location of the People of the Dawn.' Wabanakik stretches from Newfoundland in the north, to mid-Maine in the south, and parts of Quebec in the west.
"APCAW members acknowledge that we are located in the homeland of the #WabanakiConfederacy, which includes the #Abenaki, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribal Nations. Wabanakik has a ongoing legacy of #colonialism, of #StolenLand, broken treaties, forced removal and genocide of Wabanaki peoples which have fragmented Wabanaki relationships to land. The People of the Dawn maintain a sacred relationship with brown ash trees since time immemorial. APCAW’s work is to center, protect, and restore this ongoing relationship between Wabanaki peoples and ash ecosystems.
Who are we?
"The Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik (APCAW) is a group of Indigenous and non-indigenous researchers, Tribal members, and forest caretakers working together to bring more awareness of the cultural and ecological significance of ash trees and efforts to conserve them. APCAW continues the initiative set forth by the EAB and Brown Ash Taskforce, which began in the early 2000s to facilitate the collaborative capacity of Wabanaki basketmakers, Tribal Nations, state and federal foresters, and others to prevent, detect, and respond to the EAB. APCAW gives platform to the work of a broad range of partners, including:
• University of Maine School of Forest Resources
• Tribal Nations
#MikmaqNation, Presque Isle
#HoultonBand of #Maliseet Indians, Houlton
#PassamaquoddyTribe at #IndianTownship
Passamaquoddy Tribe at #PleasantPoint #Sipayik
#PenobscotNation, Indian Island• Wabanaki basketmakers and the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance
• State and Federal Forestry Agencies
USDA APHIS
State of Maine Department of Agriculture & Forestry
State, Private, and Tribal Forest Service• Conservation organizations and seed saving organizations
The #WildSeedProject
#MaineLandTrustNetworkLearn more (includes links to resources):
https://umaine.edu/apcaw/#Maine #MFS #EAB #EmeraldAshBorer #AshTree #AshTrees #APCAW #InvasiveSpecies #Wabanaki #ProtectTheForests #MaineNews #Maine #SaveTheTrees #WabanakiCulture #WabanakiBasketry #WabanakiTradition #Forestry #ProtectTheSacred #SolarPunkSunday