#weru — Public Fediverse posts

Wabanaki Windows on #WERU!

"#WabanakiWindows presents a timely conversation on the past, present, and future of #Wabanaki #sovereignty featuring #WabanakiAlliance Executive Director #MaulianBryant and Professor #DarrenRanco.

The program examines the impact of the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims #SettlementAct, the formation of the Wabanaki Alliance, and the #legislation shaping the current session. There will be a part two at a later date!"

Airs January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM on WERU — WERU.org

https://archives.weru.org/category/wabanaki-windows/

#MainePol #Sovereignty #WabanakiNations #TribalRights #WabanakiConfederacy #IndigenousSovereignty #MaineTribes
#PassamaquoddyNation #PenobscotNation #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians #MikmaqNation #LandBack

Wabanaki Windows on #WERU!

"#WabanakiWindows presents a timely conversation on the past, present, and future of #Wabanaki #sovereignty featuring #WabanakiAlliance Executive Director #MaulianBryant and Professor #DarrenRanco.

The program examines the impact of the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims #SettlementAct, the formation of the Wabanaki Alliance, and the #legislation shaping the current session. There will be a part two at a later date!"

Airs January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM on WERU — WERU.org

https://archives.weru.org/category/wabanaki-windows/

#MainePol #Sovereignty #WabanakiNations #TribalRights #WabanakiConfederacy #IndigenousSovereignty #MaineTribes
#PassamaquoddyNation #PenobscotNation #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians #MikmaqNation #LandBack

Wabanaki Windows on #WERU!

"#WabanakiWindows presents a timely conversation on the past, present, and future of #Wabanaki #sovereignty featuring #WabanakiAlliance Executive Director #MaulianBryant and Professor #DarrenRanco.

The program examines the impact of the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims #SettlementAct, the formation of the Wabanaki Alliance, and the #legislation shaping the current session. There will be a part two at a later date!"

Airs January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM on WERU — WERU.org

https://archives.weru.org/category/wabanaki-windows/

#MainePol #Sovereignty #WabanakiNations #TribalRights #WabanakiConfederacy #IndigenousSovereignty #MaineTribes
#PassamaquoddyNation #PenobscotNation #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians #MikmaqNation #LandBack

Wabanaki Windows on #WERU!

"#WabanakiWindows presents a timely conversation on the past, present, and future of #Wabanaki #sovereignty featuring #WabanakiAlliance Executive Director #MaulianBryant and Professor #DarrenRanco.

The program examines the impact of the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims #SettlementAct, the formation of the Wabanaki Alliance, and the #legislation shaping the current session. There will be a part two at a later date!"

Airs January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM on WERU — WERU.org

https://archives.weru.org/category/wabanaki-windows/

#MainePol #Sovereignty #WabanakiNations #TribalRights #WabanakiConfederacy #IndigenousSovereignty #MaineTribes
#PassamaquoddyNation #PenobscotNation #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians #MikmaqNation #LandBack

Wabanaki Windows on #WERU!

"#WabanakiWindows presents a timely conversation on the past, present, and future of #Wabanaki #sovereignty featuring #WabanakiAlliance Executive Director #MaulianBryant and Professor #DarrenRanco.

The program examines the impact of the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims #SettlementAct, the formation of the Wabanaki Alliance, and the #legislation shaping the current session. There will be a part two at a later date!"

Airs January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM on WERU — WERU.org

https://archives.weru.org/category/wabanaki-windows/

#MainePol #Sovereignty #WabanakiNations #TribalRights #WabanakiConfederacy #IndigenousSovereignty #MaineTribes
#PassamaquoddyNation #PenobscotNation #HoultonBandOfMaliseetIndians #MikmaqNation #LandBack

[3/3] #PineTreeActivism Events for #January16 - #Maine

JAN 16, Fri 4-5:00PM – #WERU 89.9 FM
Listen from anywhere
DEMOCRACY FORUM – CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE BILLIONAIRE ECONOMICS?
We'll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing #authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?

Special guests: Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy. Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies. FMI: www.democracymaine.org/civicrm-event/2256

JAN 16, Fri 5-5:30PM (& every Fri) – #PortlandME
Congress Square, High & Congress Sts (across from PMA) – Portland, Maine
#WomenInBlackVigil
A world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and violence, these weekly protests typically attract a diverse group of folks.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/828747/

#MaineEvents #MaineResists
#ResistICE #NoWar #MVPRights #GazaGenocide #WomenInBlack #Fascism #IncomeInequality

[1/3] #PineTreeActivism Events for #January16 - #Maine

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #CalaisME
Corner of North St & Main St
#StandUpDowneastMaine – Join in our weekly protest, one block from the border crossing to Canada, for this lively & international atmosphere.

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #FarmingtonME
Post Office, 196 Main St
PEACE & PROTEST VIGIL - Farmington and surrounding area activists gather at noon ON the Sidewalks in front of the post office with peace vigil signs and protest messages to advocate for #peace and protect democracy. Started 21 yrs ago as a #WomenInBlack Vigil, this is now a community event and includes #VeteransForPeace, Western Mtns Third Act, and Indivisible.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/879624/

JAN 16, Fri 12:30-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #AugustaME
Lithgow Library, 45 Winthrop St,
WOMEN IN BLACK PEACE VIGIL – Every Friday the Augusta area Women in Black hold a peace vigil in front of the Lithgow Library. Held continuously since 2002.

JAN 16, Fri 1:00PM (& every Fri) – #HoultonME
Peace Pole, Monument Park
Weekly Stand Out for Peace – www.mvprights.org/events

JAN 16, Fri 3-3:30PM (& every Fri) – #BrunswickME
156 Maine St. Opposite Walgreens
VIGIL FOR PEACE – We stand together to bear witness for deeply held beliefs in justice of all kinds and to offer a source of public education not available in mainstream media.
FMI: peaceworksbrunswickme.org/action.html

JAN 16, Fri 4-5:00PM – #WERU 89.9 FM
Listen from anywhere
DEMOCRACY FORUM – CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE #BILLIONAIRE ECONOMICS?
We'll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing #authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?

Special guests: Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy. Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies. FMI: www.democracymaine.org/civicrm-event/2256

JAN 16, Fri 5-5:30PM (& every Fri) – #PortlandME
Congress Square, High & Congress Sts (across from PMA)
WOMEN IN BLACK VIGIL
A world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and violence, these weekly protests typically attract a diverse group of folks.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/828747/

#MaineEvents #MaineResists
#ResistICE #NoWar #StopICETerror #ICEOut #NoWarForOil #JusticeForRenee
#ICEOutForGood #MVPRights #GazaGenocide

[1/3] #PineTreeActivism Events for #January16 - #Maine

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #CalaisME
Corner of North St & Main St
#StandUpDowneastMaine – Join in our weekly protest, one block from the border crossing to Canada, for this lively & international atmosphere.

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #FarmingtonME
Post Office, 196 Main St
PEACE & PROTEST VIGIL - Farmington and surrounding area activists gather at noon ON the Sidewalks in front of the post office with peace vigil signs and protest messages to advocate for #peace and protect democracy. Started 21 yrs ago as a #WomenInBlack Vigil, this is now a community event and includes #VeteransForPeace, Western Mtns Third Act, and Indivisible.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/879624/

JAN 16, Fri 12:30-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #AugustaME
Lithgow Library, 45 Winthrop St,
WOMEN IN BLACK PEACE VIGIL – Every Friday the Augusta area Women in Black hold a peace vigil in front of the Lithgow Library. Held continuously since 2002.

JAN 16, Fri 1:00PM (& every Fri) – #HoultonME
Peace Pole, Monument Park
Weekly Stand Out for Peace – www.mvprights.org/events

JAN 16, Fri 3-3:30PM (& every Fri) – #BrunswickME
156 Maine St. Opposite Walgreens
VIGIL FOR PEACE – We stand together to bear witness for deeply held beliefs in justice of all kinds and to offer a source of public education not available in mainstream media.
FMI: peaceworksbrunswickme.org/action.html

JAN 16, Fri 4-5:00PM – #WERU 89.9 FM
Listen from anywhere
DEMOCRACY FORUM – CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE #BILLIONAIRE ECONOMICS?
We'll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing #authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?

Special guests: Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy. Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies. FMI: www.democracymaine.org/civicrm-event/2256

JAN 16, Fri 5-5:30PM (& every Fri) – #PortlandME
Congress Square, High & Congress Sts (across from PMA)
WOMEN IN BLACK VIGIL
A world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and violence, these weekly protests typically attract a diverse group of folks.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/828747/

#MaineEvents #MaineResists
#ResistICE #NoWar #StopICETerror #ICEOut #NoWarForOil #JusticeForRenee
#ICEOutForGood #MVPRights #GazaGenocide

[1/3] #PineTreeActivism Events for #January16 - #Maine

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #CalaisME
Corner of North St & Main St
#StandUpDowneastMaine – Join in our weekly protest, one block from the border crossing to Canada, for this lively & international atmosphere.

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #FarmingtonME
Post Office, 196 Main St
PEACE & PROTEST VIGIL - Farmington and surrounding area activists gather at noon ON the Sidewalks in front of the post office with peace vigil signs and protest messages to advocate for #peace and protect democracy. Started 21 yrs ago as a #WomenInBlack Vigil, this is now a community event and includes #VeteransForPeace, Western Mtns Third Act, and Indivisible.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/879624/

JAN 16, Fri 12:30-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #AugustaME
Lithgow Library, 45 Winthrop St,
WOMEN IN BLACK PEACE VIGIL – Every Friday the Augusta area Women in Black hold a peace vigil in front of the Lithgow Library. Held continuously since 2002.

JAN 16, Fri 1:00PM (& every Fri) – #HoultonME
Peace Pole, Monument Park
Weekly Stand Out for Peace – www.mvprights.org/events

JAN 16, Fri 3-3:30PM (& every Fri) – #BrunswickME
156 Maine St. Opposite Walgreens
VIGIL FOR PEACE – We stand together to bear witness for deeply held beliefs in justice of all kinds and to offer a source of public education not available in mainstream media.
FMI: peaceworksbrunswickme.org/action.html

JAN 16, Fri 4-5:00PM – #WERU 89.9 FM
Listen from anywhere
DEMOCRACY FORUM – CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE #BILLIONAIRE ECONOMICS?
We'll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing #authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?

Special guests: Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy. Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies. FMI: www.democracymaine.org/civicrm-event/2256

JAN 16, Fri 5-5:30PM (& every Fri) – #PortlandME
Congress Square, High & Congress Sts (across from PMA)
WOMEN IN BLACK VIGIL
A world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and violence, these weekly protests typically attract a diverse group of folks.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/828747/

#MaineEvents #MaineResists
#ResistICE #NoWar #StopICETerror #ICEOut #NoWarForOil #JusticeForRenee
#ICEOutForGood #MVPRights #GazaGenocide

[1/3] #PineTreeActivism Events for #January16 - #Maine

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #CalaisME
Corner of North St & Main St
#StandUpDowneastMaine – Join in our weekly protest, one block from the border crossing to Canada, for this lively & international atmosphere.

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #FarmingtonME
Post Office, 196 Main St
PEACE & PROTEST VIGIL - Farmington and surrounding area activists gather at noon ON the Sidewalks in front of the post office with peace vigil signs and protest messages to advocate for #peace and protect democracy. Started 21 yrs ago as a #WomenInBlack Vigil, this is now a community event and includes #VeteransForPeace, Western Mtns Third Act, and Indivisible.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/879624/

JAN 16, Fri 12:30-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #AugustaME
Lithgow Library, 45 Winthrop St,
WOMEN IN BLACK PEACE VIGIL – Every Friday the Augusta area Women in Black hold a peace vigil in front of the Lithgow Library. Held continuously since 2002.

JAN 16, Fri 1:00PM (& every Fri) – #HoultonME
Peace Pole, Monument Park
Weekly Stand Out for Peace – www.mvprights.org/events

JAN 16, Fri 3-3:30PM (& every Fri) – #BrunswickME
156 Maine St. Opposite Walgreens
VIGIL FOR PEACE – We stand together to bear witness for deeply held beliefs in justice of all kinds and to offer a source of public education not available in mainstream media.
FMI: peaceworksbrunswickme.org/action.html

JAN 16, Fri 4-5:00PM – #WERU 89.9 FM
Listen from anywhere
DEMOCRACY FORUM – CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE #BILLIONAIRE ECONOMICS?
We'll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing #authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?

Special guests: Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy. Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies. FMI: www.democracymaine.org/civicrm-event/2256

JAN 16, Fri 5-5:30PM (& every Fri) – #PortlandME
Congress Square, High & Congress Sts (across from PMA)
WOMEN IN BLACK VIGIL
A world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and violence, these weekly protests typically attract a diverse group of folks.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/828747/

#MaineEvents #MaineResists
#ResistICE #NoWar #StopICETerror #ICEOut #NoWarForOil #JusticeForRenee
#ICEOutForGood #MVPRights #GazaGenocide

[1/3] #PineTreeActivism Events for #January16 - #Maine

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #CalaisME
Corner of North St & Main St
#StandUpDowneastMaine – Join in our weekly protest, one block from the border crossing to Canada, for this lively & international atmosphere.

JAN 16, Fri 12-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #FarmingtonME
Post Office, 196 Main St
PEACE & PROTEST VIGIL - Farmington and surrounding area activists gather at noon ON the Sidewalks in front of the post office with peace vigil signs and protest messages to advocate for #peace and protect democracy. Started 21 yrs ago as a #WomenInBlack Vigil, this is now a community event and includes #VeteransForPeace, Western Mtns Third Act, and Indivisible.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/879624/

JAN 16, Fri 12:30-1:00PM (& every Fri) – #AugustaME
Lithgow Library, 45 Winthrop St,
WOMEN IN BLACK PEACE VIGIL – Every Friday the Augusta area Women in Black hold a peace vigil in front of the Lithgow Library. Held continuously since 2002.

JAN 16, Fri 1:00PM (& every Fri) – #HoultonME
Peace Pole, Monument Park
Weekly Stand Out for Peace – www.mvprights.org/events

JAN 16, Fri 3-3:30PM (& every Fri) – #BrunswickME
156 Maine St. Opposite Walgreens
VIGIL FOR PEACE – We stand together to bear witness for deeply held beliefs in justice of all kinds and to offer a source of public education not available in mainstream media.
FMI: peaceworksbrunswickme.org/action.html

JAN 16, Fri 4-5:00PM – #WERU 89.9 FM
Listen from anywhere
DEMOCRACY FORUM – CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE #BILLIONAIRE ECONOMICS?
We'll talk about how wealth and income inequality undermine democracy. Does extreme income inequality lead to right wing #authoritarianism? How does that work? Is that playing out in the U.S. right now? In Maine?

Special guests: Garrett Martin, President & CEO, Maine Center for Economic Policy. Susan Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, and author of The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies. FMI: www.democracymaine.org/civicrm-event/2256

JAN 16, Fri 5-5:30PM (& every Fri) – #PortlandME
Congress Square, High & Congress Sts (across from PMA)
WOMEN IN BLACK VIGIL
A world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and violence, these weekly protests typically attract a diverse group of folks.
FMI: mobilize.us/mobilize/event/828747/

#MaineEvents #MaineResists
#ResistICE #NoWar #StopICETerror #ICEOut #NoWarForOil #JusticeForRenee
#ICEOutForGood #MVPRights #GazaGenocide

#PenobscotNation #Elder ‘Butch’ Phillips dies at 85

A celebrated #CultureBearer and artist, Reuben Elliot 'Butch' Phillips also was part of the team that negotiated the #Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.

Reuben M. Schafir, July 29, 2025

"Reuben Elliot “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, artist, culture-bearer and the former lieutenant governor of the tribe, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Phillips was a leader within his tribe, an accomplished birch bark artist known for crafting moose calls adorned with intricate etchings, an athlete and a masterful hunter.

Scott Phillips, one of the elder Phillips’ three sons, said his father was a “very patient, very soulful” hunter who successfully hunted moose until just two years ago.

Phillips was often called upon to perform ceremonies and lead prayers at events. He cherished his role as a tribal elder, family members said, and was a living advocate for Penobscot traditions.

“He was a proponent of the Penobscot Nation,” Scott Phillips said. “All the traditions and customs, he wanted to keep that going for future generations, and he tried to pass a lot of that knowledge on to me and my brothers, his grandchildren and the people of the nation.”

“He never opened a ceremony without recalling the ancestors and ensuring that we honored them in our daily lives,” said #BarryDana, Phillips’ nephew and former two-term chief of the Penobscot Nation. “When you’re an elder and you preserve a value, you repeat it as early and as often as needed, and he didn’t hesitate to repeat it all the time. And now he’s an ancestor.”

#MaulianBryant, Dana’s daughter, recalled her great-uncle as well-spoken, diplomatic and warm, yet stalwart in his convictions. Known for his impeccable presentation, Bryant said he sported a neatly combed coif of dark hair well into old age and was often present at tribal ceremonies in full regalia.

Phillips was born May 7, 1940, and grew up on Indian Island, the seat of the Penobscot Nation’s government. He served in the U.S. Army and had a lengthy career in telecommunications, in addition to the various positions he held within the Penobscot Nation and associated causes, according to an obituary written by his family. He served as lieutenant governor, a position now known as vice chief, of the Penobscot Nation from 1992 to 1994. He lived in his later years on Penobscot ancestral homelands known today as Milford, across the river from the tribe’s headquarters.

In the 1970s, Philips was one of the Penobscot representatives on the team that negotiated the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980. The legislation was viewed by many at the time as the only way for tribes to secure limited compensation for stolen land. It also subjected tribal nations to state government control and excepted them from the sovereignty all other federally recognized tribes have.

The law was a divisive topic internally among tribal members during negotiations. Its impacts have shaped the work of Dana and Bryant, who served as Penobscot tribal ambassador before she became executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance in January 2025. Bryant’s work today is largely dedicated to unraveling many of the restrictions imposed by the settlement act. Conversations with her great-uncle caused her to shift her thinking of the law and of the negotiators who partook in its crafting.

“I never wanted those tribal leaders to feel ashamed or that they did a bad thing, because it was a historic thing and there were good things for the tribe and they were between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “I really credit him with me shifting my approach to the whole thing and seeing it in a wholesale way and just remembering the humanity of everyone involved.”

Dana and Phillips never spoke of the negotiations outside of a single town-hall meeting — but Dana said he knew his uncle was fully behind him when he went head-to-head with the state on several occasions.

By working on the negotiating team, Phillips was fulfilling a duty asked of him by his government, said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, the former executive director of the Wabanki Alliance.

“There can be no greater example of citizenship,” he said.

Phillips was also an outspoken advocate of the #PenobscotRiver restoration.
“My generation, we saw the Penobscot River at its worst. It was like an open sewer,” he told #WERU Community Radio and #SunlightMediaCollective in 2018. “And as children, it really didn’t mean too much to us. We still swam in it, we still ate the fish, we still canoed in it and so forth. But I also witnessed the cleansing of the river.”

He was part of a group in 2002 that built the first birch bark canoe on Indian Island in 60 years and helped paddle the boat up the Penobscot River to Katahdin.
Butch Phillips at his Milford home in 1997. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
“It was a really strong moment in the revitalization of our culture,” Dana said.
Phillips was married for 40 years to Linda Ann Stewart, who died in 2001. He is survived by his three sons, four siblings and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends.

In his final days, family members say Phillips asked those around him to show love.

“He hoped people would put their differences aside and just love each other,” Scott Phillips said."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/29/penobscot-elder-butch-phillips-dies-at-85/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Dmby4

#Penobscot #PenobscotElder #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #PenobscotRiver #WaterKeeper #NativeAmericanArtist #CultureKeeper

#PenobscotNation #Elder ‘Butch’ Phillips dies at 85

A celebrated #CultureBearer and artist, Reuben Elliot 'Butch' Phillips also was part of the team that negotiated the #Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.

Reuben M. Schafir, July 29, 2025

"Reuben Elliot “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, artist, culture-bearer and the former lieutenant governor of the tribe, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Phillips was a leader within his tribe, an accomplished birch bark artist known for crafting moose calls adorned with intricate etchings, an athlete and a masterful hunter.

Scott Phillips, one of the elder Phillips’ three sons, said his father was a “very patient, very soulful” hunter who successfully hunted moose until just two years ago.

Phillips was often called upon to perform ceremonies and lead prayers at events. He cherished his role as a tribal elder, family members said, and was a living advocate for Penobscot traditions.

“He was a proponent of the Penobscot Nation,” Scott Phillips said. “All the traditions and customs, he wanted to keep that going for future generations, and he tried to pass a lot of that knowledge on to me and my brothers, his grandchildren and the people of the nation.”

“He never opened a ceremony without recalling the ancestors and ensuring that we honored them in our daily lives,” said #BarryDana, Phillips’ nephew and former two-term chief of the Penobscot Nation. “When you’re an elder and you preserve a value, you repeat it as early and as often as needed, and he didn’t hesitate to repeat it all the time. And now he’s an ancestor.”

#MaulianBryant, Dana’s daughter, recalled her great-uncle as well-spoken, diplomatic and warm, yet stalwart in his convictions. Known for his impeccable presentation, Bryant said he sported a neatly combed coif of dark hair well into old age and was often present at tribal ceremonies in full regalia.

Phillips was born May 7, 1940, and grew up on Indian Island, the seat of the Penobscot Nation’s government. He served in the U.S. Army and had a lengthy career in telecommunications, in addition to the various positions he held within the Penobscot Nation and associated causes, according to an obituary written by his family. He served as lieutenant governor, a position now known as vice chief, of the Penobscot Nation from 1992 to 1994. He lived in his later years on Penobscot ancestral homelands known today as Milford, across the river from the tribe’s headquarters.

In the 1970s, Philips was one of the Penobscot representatives on the team that negotiated the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980. The legislation was viewed by many at the time as the only way for tribes to secure limited compensation for stolen land. It also subjected tribal nations to state government control and excepted them from the sovereignty all other federally recognized tribes have.

The law was a divisive topic internally among tribal members during negotiations. Its impacts have shaped the work of Dana and Bryant, who served as Penobscot tribal ambassador before she became executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance in January 2025. Bryant’s work today is largely dedicated to unraveling many of the restrictions imposed by the settlement act. Conversations with her great-uncle caused her to shift her thinking of the law and of the negotiators who partook in its crafting.

“I never wanted those tribal leaders to feel ashamed or that they did a bad thing, because it was a historic thing and there were good things for the tribe and they were between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “I really credit him with me shifting my approach to the whole thing and seeing it in a wholesale way and just remembering the humanity of everyone involved.”

Dana and Phillips never spoke of the negotiations outside of a single town-hall meeting — but Dana said he knew his uncle was fully behind him when he went head-to-head with the state on several occasions.

By working on the negotiating team, Phillips was fulfilling a duty asked of him by his government, said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, the former executive director of the Wabanki Alliance.

“There can be no greater example of citizenship,” he said.

Phillips was also an outspoken advocate of the #PenobscotRiver restoration.
“My generation, we saw the Penobscot River at its worst. It was like an open sewer,” he told #WERU Community Radio and #SunlightMediaCollective in 2018. “And as children, it really didn’t mean too much to us. We still swam in it, we still ate the fish, we still canoed in it and so forth. But I also witnessed the cleansing of the river.”

He was part of a group in 2002 that built the first birch bark canoe on Indian Island in 60 years and helped paddle the boat up the Penobscot River to Katahdin.
Butch Phillips at his Milford home in 1997. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
“It was a really strong moment in the revitalization of our culture,” Dana said.
Phillips was married for 40 years to Linda Ann Stewart, who died in 2001. He is survived by his three sons, four siblings and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends.

In his final days, family members say Phillips asked those around him to show love.

“He hoped people would put their differences aside and just love each other,” Scott Phillips said."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/29/penobscot-elder-butch-phillips-dies-at-85/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Dmby4

#Penobscot #PenobscotElder #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #PenobscotRiver #WaterKeeper #NativeAmericanArtist #CultureKeeper

#PenobscotNation #Elder ‘Butch’ Phillips dies at 85

A celebrated #CultureBearer and artist, Reuben Elliot 'Butch' Phillips also was part of the team that negotiated the #Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.

Reuben M. Schafir, July 29, 2025

"Reuben Elliot “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, artist, culture-bearer and the former lieutenant governor of the tribe, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Phillips was a leader within his tribe, an accomplished birch bark artist known for crafting moose calls adorned with intricate etchings, an athlete and a masterful hunter.

Scott Phillips, one of the elder Phillips’ three sons, said his father was a “very patient, very soulful” hunter who successfully hunted moose until just two years ago.

Phillips was often called upon to perform ceremonies and lead prayers at events. He cherished his role as a tribal elder, family members said, and was a living advocate for Penobscot traditions.

“He was a proponent of the Penobscot Nation,” Scott Phillips said. “All the traditions and customs, he wanted to keep that going for future generations, and he tried to pass a lot of that knowledge on to me and my brothers, his grandchildren and the people of the nation.”

“He never opened a ceremony without recalling the ancestors and ensuring that we honored them in our daily lives,” said #BarryDana, Phillips’ nephew and former two-term chief of the Penobscot Nation. “When you’re an elder and you preserve a value, you repeat it as early and as often as needed, and he didn’t hesitate to repeat it all the time. And now he’s an ancestor.”

#MaulianBryant, Dana’s daughter, recalled her great-uncle as well-spoken, diplomatic and warm, yet stalwart in his convictions. Known for his impeccable presentation, Bryant said he sported a neatly combed coif of dark hair well into old age and was often present at tribal ceremonies in full regalia.

Phillips was born May 7, 1940, and grew up on Indian Island, the seat of the Penobscot Nation’s government. He served in the U.S. Army and had a lengthy career in telecommunications, in addition to the various positions he held within the Penobscot Nation and associated causes, according to an obituary written by his family. He served as lieutenant governor, a position now known as vice chief, of the Penobscot Nation from 1992 to 1994. He lived in his later years on Penobscot ancestral homelands known today as Milford, across the river from the tribe’s headquarters.

In the 1970s, Philips was one of the Penobscot representatives on the team that negotiated the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980. The legislation was viewed by many at the time as the only way for tribes to secure limited compensation for stolen land. It also subjected tribal nations to state government control and excepted them from the sovereignty all other federally recognized tribes have.

The law was a divisive topic internally among tribal members during negotiations. Its impacts have shaped the work of Dana and Bryant, who served as Penobscot tribal ambassador before she became executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance in January 2025. Bryant’s work today is largely dedicated to unraveling many of the restrictions imposed by the settlement act. Conversations with her great-uncle caused her to shift her thinking of the law and of the negotiators who partook in its crafting.

“I never wanted those tribal leaders to feel ashamed or that they did a bad thing, because it was a historic thing and there were good things for the tribe and they were between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “I really credit him with me shifting my approach to the whole thing and seeing it in a wholesale way and just remembering the humanity of everyone involved.”

Dana and Phillips never spoke of the negotiations outside of a single town-hall meeting — but Dana said he knew his uncle was fully behind him when he went head-to-head with the state on several occasions.

By working on the negotiating team, Phillips was fulfilling a duty asked of him by his government, said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, the former executive director of the Wabanki Alliance.

“There can be no greater example of citizenship,” he said.

Phillips was also an outspoken advocate of the #PenobscotRiver restoration.
“My generation, we saw the Penobscot River at its worst. It was like an open sewer,” he told #WERU Community Radio and #SunlightMediaCollective in 2018. “And as children, it really didn’t mean too much to us. We still swam in it, we still ate the fish, we still canoed in it and so forth. But I also witnessed the cleansing of the river.”

He was part of a group in 2002 that built the first birch bark canoe on Indian Island in 60 years and helped paddle the boat up the Penobscot River to Katahdin.
Butch Phillips at his Milford home in 1997. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
“It was a really strong moment in the revitalization of our culture,” Dana said.
Phillips was married for 40 years to Linda Ann Stewart, who died in 2001. He is survived by his three sons, four siblings and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends.

In his final days, family members say Phillips asked those around him to show love.

“He hoped people would put their differences aside and just love each other,” Scott Phillips said."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/29/penobscot-elder-butch-phillips-dies-at-85/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Dmby4

#Penobscot #PenobscotElder #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #PenobscotRiver #WaterKeeper #NativeAmericanArtist #CultureKeeper

#PenobscotNation #Elder ‘Butch’ Phillips dies at 85

A celebrated #CultureBearer and artist, Reuben Elliot 'Butch' Phillips also was part of the team that negotiated the #Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.

Reuben M. Schafir, July 29, 2025

"Reuben Elliot “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, artist, culture-bearer and the former lieutenant governor of the tribe, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Phillips was a leader within his tribe, an accomplished birch bark artist known for crafting moose calls adorned with intricate etchings, an athlete and a masterful hunter.

Scott Phillips, one of the elder Phillips’ three sons, said his father was a “very patient, very soulful” hunter who successfully hunted moose until just two years ago.

Phillips was often called upon to perform ceremonies and lead prayers at events. He cherished his role as a tribal elder, family members said, and was a living advocate for Penobscot traditions.

“He was a proponent of the Penobscot Nation,” Scott Phillips said. “All the traditions and customs, he wanted to keep that going for future generations, and he tried to pass a lot of that knowledge on to me and my brothers, his grandchildren and the people of the nation.”

“He never opened a ceremony without recalling the ancestors and ensuring that we honored them in our daily lives,” said #BarryDana, Phillips’ nephew and former two-term chief of the Penobscot Nation. “When you’re an elder and you preserve a value, you repeat it as early and as often as needed, and he didn’t hesitate to repeat it all the time. And now he’s an ancestor.”

#MaulianBryant, Dana’s daughter, recalled her great-uncle as well-spoken, diplomatic and warm, yet stalwart in his convictions. Known for his impeccable presentation, Bryant said he sported a neatly combed coif of dark hair well into old age and was often present at tribal ceremonies in full regalia.

Phillips was born May 7, 1940, and grew up on Indian Island, the seat of the Penobscot Nation’s government. He served in the U.S. Army and had a lengthy career in telecommunications, in addition to the various positions he held within the Penobscot Nation and associated causes, according to an obituary written by his family. He served as lieutenant governor, a position now known as vice chief, of the Penobscot Nation from 1992 to 1994. He lived in his later years on Penobscot ancestral homelands known today as Milford, across the river from the tribe’s headquarters.

In the 1970s, Philips was one of the Penobscot representatives on the team that negotiated the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980. The legislation was viewed by many at the time as the only way for tribes to secure limited compensation for stolen land. It also subjected tribal nations to state government control and excepted them from the sovereignty all other federally recognized tribes have.

The law was a divisive topic internally among tribal members during negotiations. Its impacts have shaped the work of Dana and Bryant, who served as Penobscot tribal ambassador before she became executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance in January 2025. Bryant’s work today is largely dedicated to unraveling many of the restrictions imposed by the settlement act. Conversations with her great-uncle caused her to shift her thinking of the law and of the negotiators who partook in its crafting.

“I never wanted those tribal leaders to feel ashamed or that they did a bad thing, because it was a historic thing and there were good things for the tribe and they were between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “I really credit him with me shifting my approach to the whole thing and seeing it in a wholesale way and just remembering the humanity of everyone involved.”

Dana and Phillips never spoke of the negotiations outside of a single town-hall meeting — but Dana said he knew his uncle was fully behind him when he went head-to-head with the state on several occasions.

By working on the negotiating team, Phillips was fulfilling a duty asked of him by his government, said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, the former executive director of the Wabanki Alliance.

“There can be no greater example of citizenship,” he said.

Phillips was also an outspoken advocate of the #PenobscotRiver restoration.
“My generation, we saw the Penobscot River at its worst. It was like an open sewer,” he told #WERU Community Radio and #SunlightMediaCollective in 2018. “And as children, it really didn’t mean too much to us. We still swam in it, we still ate the fish, we still canoed in it and so forth. But I also witnessed the cleansing of the river.”

He was part of a group in 2002 that built the first birch bark canoe on Indian Island in 60 years and helped paddle the boat up the Penobscot River to Katahdin.
Butch Phillips at his Milford home in 1997. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
“It was a really strong moment in the revitalization of our culture,” Dana said.
Phillips was married for 40 years to Linda Ann Stewart, who died in 2001. He is survived by his three sons, four siblings and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends.

In his final days, family members say Phillips asked those around him to show love.

“He hoped people would put their differences aside and just love each other,” Scott Phillips said."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/29/penobscot-elder-butch-phillips-dies-at-85/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Dmby4

#Penobscot #PenobscotElder #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #PenobscotRiver #WaterKeeper #NativeAmericanArtist #CultureKeeper

#PenobscotNation #Elder ‘Butch’ Phillips dies at 85

A celebrated #CultureBearer and artist, Reuben Elliot 'Butch' Phillips also was part of the team that negotiated the #Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980.

Reuben M. Schafir, July 29, 2025

"Reuben Elliot “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, artist, culture-bearer and the former lieutenant governor of the tribe, died Sunday at the age of 85.
Phillips was a leader within his tribe, an accomplished birch bark artist known for crafting moose calls adorned with intricate etchings, an athlete and a masterful hunter.

Scott Phillips, one of the elder Phillips’ three sons, said his father was a “very patient, very soulful” hunter who successfully hunted moose until just two years ago.

Phillips was often called upon to perform ceremonies and lead prayers at events. He cherished his role as a tribal elder, family members said, and was a living advocate for Penobscot traditions.

“He was a proponent of the Penobscot Nation,” Scott Phillips said. “All the traditions and customs, he wanted to keep that going for future generations, and he tried to pass a lot of that knowledge on to me and my brothers, his grandchildren and the people of the nation.”

“He never opened a ceremony without recalling the ancestors and ensuring that we honored them in our daily lives,” said #BarryDana, Phillips’ nephew and former two-term chief of the Penobscot Nation. “When you’re an elder and you preserve a value, you repeat it as early and as often as needed, and he didn’t hesitate to repeat it all the time. And now he’s an ancestor.”

#MaulianBryant, Dana’s daughter, recalled her great-uncle as well-spoken, diplomatic and warm, yet stalwart in his convictions. Known for his impeccable presentation, Bryant said he sported a neatly combed coif of dark hair well into old age and was often present at tribal ceremonies in full regalia.

Phillips was born May 7, 1940, and grew up on Indian Island, the seat of the Penobscot Nation’s government. He served in the U.S. Army and had a lengthy career in telecommunications, in addition to the various positions he held within the Penobscot Nation and associated causes, according to an obituary written by his family. He served as lieutenant governor, a position now known as vice chief, of the Penobscot Nation from 1992 to 1994. He lived in his later years on Penobscot ancestral homelands known today as Milford, across the river from the tribe’s headquarters.

In the 1970s, Philips was one of the Penobscot representatives on the team that negotiated the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980. The legislation was viewed by many at the time as the only way for tribes to secure limited compensation for stolen land. It also subjected tribal nations to state government control and excepted them from the sovereignty all other federally recognized tribes have.

The law was a divisive topic internally among tribal members during negotiations. Its impacts have shaped the work of Dana and Bryant, who served as Penobscot tribal ambassador before she became executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance in January 2025. Bryant’s work today is largely dedicated to unraveling many of the restrictions imposed by the settlement act. Conversations with her great-uncle caused her to shift her thinking of the law and of the negotiators who partook in its crafting.

“I never wanted those tribal leaders to feel ashamed or that they did a bad thing, because it was a historic thing and there were good things for the tribe and they were between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “I really credit him with me shifting my approach to the whole thing and seeing it in a wholesale way and just remembering the humanity of everyone involved.”

Dana and Phillips never spoke of the negotiations outside of a single town-hall meeting — but Dana said he knew his uncle was fully behind him when he went head-to-head with the state on several occasions.

By working on the negotiating team, Phillips was fulfilling a duty asked of him by his government, said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, the former executive director of the Wabanki Alliance.

“There can be no greater example of citizenship,” he said.

Phillips was also an outspoken advocate of the #PenobscotRiver restoration.
“My generation, we saw the Penobscot River at its worst. It was like an open sewer,” he told #WERU Community Radio and #SunlightMediaCollective in 2018. “And as children, it really didn’t mean too much to us. We still swam in it, we still ate the fish, we still canoed in it and so forth. But I also witnessed the cleansing of the river.”

He was part of a group in 2002 that built the first birch bark canoe on Indian Island in 60 years and helped paddle the boat up the Penobscot River to Katahdin.
Butch Phillips at his Milford home in 1997. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
“It was a really strong moment in the revitalization of our culture,” Dana said.
Phillips was married for 40 years to Linda Ann Stewart, who died in 2001. He is survived by his three sons, four siblings and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends.

In his final days, family members say Phillips asked those around him to show love.

“He hoped people would put their differences aside and just love each other,” Scott Phillips said."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/29/penobscot-elder-butch-phillips-dies-at-85/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Dmby4

#Penobscot #PenobscotElder #MaineSettlementAct #WaterIsLife #PenobscotRiver #WaterKeeper #NativeAmericanArtist #CultureKeeper

Aww.

For a span of life, I lived in #MidCoast #Maine, and listened to a lot of community radio on #WERU, out of #BlueHill.

One of the the regular short programs, of poems, astronomical events, farming advice, and seasonal reminders was the Awanadjo Almanack. It was a joy every time it came on, and the wit and wisdom of its creator, Rob McCall, was apparent.
He passed in April of this year, at 79, alas! https://weeklypacket.com/news/2023/may/19/a-community-remembers/

Aww.

For a span of life, I lived in #MidCoast #Maine, and listened to a lot of community radio on #WERU, out of #BlueHill.

One of the the regular short programs, of poems, astronomical events, farming advice, and seasonal reminders was the Awanadjo Almanack. It was a joy every time it came on, and the wit and wisdom of its creator, Rob McCall, was apparent.
He passed in April of this year, at 79, alas! https://weeklypacket.com/news/2023/may/19/a-community-remembers/

Aww.

For a span of life, I lived in #MidCoast #Maine, and listened to a lot of community radio on #WERU, out of #BlueHill.

One of the the regular short programs, of poems, astronomical events, farming advice, and seasonal reminders was the Awanadjo Almanack. It was a joy every time it came on, and the wit and wisdom of its creator, Rob McCall, was apparent.
He passed in April of this year, at 79, alas! https://weeklypacket.com/news/2023/may/19/a-community-remembers/

Aww.

For a span of life, I lived in #MidCoast #Maine, and listened to a lot of community radio on #WERU, out of #BlueHill.

One of the the regular short programs, of poems, astronomical events, farming advice, and seasonal reminders was the Awanadjo Almanack. It was a joy every time it came on, and the wit and wisdom of its creator, Rob McCall, was apparent.
He passed in April of this year, at 79, alas! https://weeklypacket.com/news/2023/may/19/a-community-remembers/

@thomkennon
Yes.

If anyone wants to test whether the #radioStation works for them over Tor, here is the direct link:
https://stream.pacificaservice.org:9000/weru_128

A direct link is important inn this case because the actual website for #WeRU is #cloudGlare.Someone ought contact them to request their #radio station be available over #I2P. There are a number of great I2P radio stations, but it sounds like this one would fill a real niche.

@thomkennon
Yes.

If anyone wants to test whether the #radioStation works for them over Tor, here is the direct link:
https://stream.pacificaservice.org:9000/weru_128

A direct link is important inn this case because the actual website for #WeRU is #cloudGlare.Someone ought contact them to request their #radio station be available over #I2P. There are a number of great I2P radio stations, but it sounds like this one would fill a real niche.

#Museum30 Day8 Today's topic is #Clothing or #Weru (or sometimes #Weruweru) in Māori #NZTwits #Aotearoa #History #Murihiku #Southland #NZ
#Waiau #Ōtautau #Archives
#CentralWesternSouthland #GLAM #CommunityHistory #digipres

With the clothing of children 100 odd years ago being dresses for all genders, it's not always easy to tell who is who!. This is Harry Laurie from our community history in the Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive. Check out more about him here: https://ehive.com/collections/202139/objects/1598799/otautau-later-township-district-settlers-laurie-family

#Museum30 Day8 Today's topic is #Clothing or #Weru (or sometimes #Weruweru) in Māori #NZTwits #Aotearoa #History #Murihiku #Southland #NZ
#Waiau #Ōtautau #Archives
#CentralWesternSouthland #GLAM #CommunityHistory #digipres

With the clothing of children 100 odd years ago being dresses for all genders, it's not always easy to tell who is who!. This is Harry Laurie from our community history in the Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive. Check out more about him here: https://ehive.com/collections/202139/objects/1598799/otautau-later-township-district-settlers-laurie-family

#Museum30 Day8 Today's topic is #Clothing or #Weru (or sometimes #Weruweru) in Māori #NZTwits #Aotearoa #History #Murihiku #Southland #NZ
#Waiau #Ōtautau #Archives
#CentralWesternSouthland #GLAM #CommunityHistory #digipres

With the clothing of children 100 odd years ago being dresses for all genders, it's not always easy to tell who is who!. This is Harry Laurie from our community history in the Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive. Check out more about him here: https://ehive.com/collections/202139/objects/1598799/otautau-later-township-district-settlers-laurie-family

#Museum30 Day8 Today's topic is #Clothing or #Weru (or sometimes #Weruweru) in Māori #NZTwits #Aotearoa #History #Murihiku #Southland #NZ
#Waiau #Ōtautau #Archives
#CentralWesternSouthland #GLAM #CommunityHistory #digipres

With the clothing of children 100 odd years ago being dresses for all genders, it's not always easy to tell who is who!. This is Harry Laurie from our community history in the Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive. Check out more about him here: https://ehive.com/collections/202139/objects/1598799/otautau-later-township-district-settlers-laurie-family