{"id":7260,"date":"2022-05-02T09:48:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7260"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:43:10","slug":"a-shared-pursuit-protecting-maine-land-and-supporting-indigenous-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/05\/02\/a-shared-pursuit-protecting-maine-land-and-supporting-indigenous-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"A Shared Pursuit: Protecting Maine Land and Supporting Indigenous Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Wabanaki nation is comprised of Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot peoples. They have occupied Maine for 12,000 years. Today, Maine land conservation trusts are shaping practices around Indigenous leadership and knowledge. Ethnic needs and environmental preservation goals have come to an intersection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0French and English colonization introduced ideas of ownership through early settlers. Wabanaki experienced reduction of their ancestral lands and populations. Increasing conflict over divided land threatened Indigenous cultural freedoms and customs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Wabanaki population across Maine is around 8,700 people these days. They are still facing the effects of history to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Peter Forbes and Ciona Ulrich formed the First Light Committee in 2017. Its purpose is to merge communication between the Wabanaki community and the 80 recognized land trusts in the state. The committee has worked at<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Allied Conservations of the First Light Conservation Delegation Committee.<\/p><\/div>\n

expanding Indigenous access to land. It has also promoted opportunity for Indigenous leadership in land conservation. The committee takes on difficult, essential conversations and trust building to promote partnership with Indigenous representatives. Admitting and understanding the complex history of the tribes has advanced the long-term goals of land trusts.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ulrich said, \u201cThose of us who are in the conservation community around Maine, we\u2019re missing history. We\u2019re missing knowledge. We\u2019re missing some voices at the table as well.\u201d She said, \u201cThese are people who know the plants, know the animals, know the places all around us and have for a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The committee has aimed to better support Maine\u2019s vibrant natural landscape through Indigenous perspectives. This was not a customary practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Darren Ranco, Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American Research at the University of Maine, representative for the Wabanaki Commission on the Land and Stewardship, said, \u201cAny land trust, any work related to protecting lands that does not engage and center Indigenous peoples in leadership, I think is one that is lacking.\u201d Colonial practices historically harmed the native tribes and the environment alike. The committee believes that linking the gap between limited conservation tools and knowledge with Wabanaki needs and goals would strengthen conservation and support Indigenous people at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Wabanaki define natural resources beyond their uses as food or income. The waterways, the fish, the animals and the plants have cultural value. Indigenous people ritually care for these resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sweetgrass has always been a plant of significance to the Wabanaki. It grows abundantly in the Acadia National Park region. Tribes were prohibited from tending to these plants on protected lands until very recently. \u201cIf we don\u2019t tend to it and pick it, it will start to disappear. But when we pick it, it returns more and more each year.\u201d The fact that privately owned land and state policy do not readily support Indigenous practices of cultural land conservation raises concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs Wabanaki we are taught through various teachings and stories that our responsibility in our first relations are with obviously each other. But also, with our non-human relations and the places that are now in the category of the state of Maine,\u201d Ranco said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Improving land protection methods and meeting Indigenous needs are the foundation of the First Light Committee. This delegation changed land conservation trust practices to address damage imposed on the Wabanaki and the environment. They have been focusing attention on state and federal policy, while working to build lasting, authentic connections with the Wabanaki tribes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Wabanaki nation is comprised of Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot peoples. They have occupied Maine for 12,000 years. Today, Maine land conservation trusts are shaping practices around Indigenous leadership and knowledge. Ethnic needs and environmental preservation goals have come to an intersection. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0French and English colonization introduced ideas of ownership through early settlers. Wabanaki […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8119,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7260\/revisions\/8119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}