The Abenaki are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predominantly spoken in Maine, while the Western Abenaki language was spoken in Quebec, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation is one of two reservations of the federally recognized Passamaquoddy tribe in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 692 as of the 2020 census.
The Penobscot are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.
The Passamaquoddy are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatikuk, straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine in a region called Dawnland. They are one of the constituent nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
The Maine State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The legislature convenes at the State House in Augusta, where it has met since 1832.
The Wolastoqiyik, also Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite or Maliseet are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States.
The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via plurality voting. The nonvoting members represent three of Maine's Native American tribes, though two tribes have declined to send representatives. Each voting member of the House represents around 9,000 citizens of the state. Because it is a part-time position, members of the Maine House of Representatives usually have outside employment as well. Members are limited to four consecutive terms of two years each, but may run again after two years.
The Wabanaki Confederacy is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Abenaki of St. Francis, Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, Passamaquoddy (Peskotomahkati) and Penobscot.
The Androscoggin (Ammoscongon) were an Abenaki people from what are now the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire. By the 18th century, they were absorbed by neighboring tribes.
Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, 528 F.2d 370, was a landmark decision regarding aboriginal title in the United States. The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the Nonintercourse Act applied to the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot, non-federally-recognized Indian tribes, and established a trust relationship between those tribes and the federal government that the State of Maine could not terminate.
Thomas Norton Tureen is an American lawyer, investment banker and entrepreneur known for his work with American Indian tribes. While an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund he pioneered the use of the Nonintercourse Act to obtain return of tribal lands lost 180 years earlier and federal recognition for previously non-federally recognized tribes. Tureen successfully litigated Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton (1975), which established that the federal government has a trust responsibility to protect the land of all tribes, including those not previously recognized, and that all tribes are entitled to the benefits and immunities associated with federal recognition. Between 1972 and 1983 he was lead counsel in cases that obtained federal recognition for and achieved the return of over 300,000 acres to five New England tribes. He helped the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, now one of the most successful gaming operators in the U.S., obtain federal recognition in 1984 pursuant to regulations adopted by the Department of the Interior in response to the Passamaquoddy decision. His work on behalf of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe in Connecticut led to the creation of the Foxwoods Resort Casino, which was the largest casino in the world when opened. And he arranged the acquisition of Dragon Cement, New England's only cement producer, by the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Phoenix Cement by the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, ; originated 250 MW Moapa Solar, the first utility scale solar project in Indian Country, and originated a partnership controlled by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians that became the first tribal participating transmission owner in the U.S. and the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) 2023 Impact Deal of the Year.
Donna M. Loring is a Penobscot author, broadcaster, and former Senior Advisor on Tribal Affairs to Janet Mills, the governor of Maine.
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine (HBMI) is a federally recognized tribe of Maliseet, whose land is along the Meduxnekeag River in Maine, United States. They are headquartered in Littleton, Maine, located in Aroostook County.
The use of terms and images referring to Native Americans/First Nations as the name or mascot for a sports team is a topic of public controversy in the United States and in Canada, arising as part of the Native American/First Nations civil rights movements. The retirement of the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians has tipped public opinion in favor of eliminating Native mascots by public school, more states considering or passing legislation to do so, heeding tribal leaders who have advocating for change for decades.
The Maine Indian Newsletter was a monthly newsletter published independently from 1966 to 1972 in Gardiner, Maine and Freeport, Maine. While the exact address is not listed, the office was on Pine Street in Freeport. All of the articles archived by Dawnland Voices have Pine Street listed as the place to send submissions and money.
The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, also known as the MWTRC, was a commission looking at events relating to Wabanaki children and families from 1978, when the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed, until now. The Commission was officially established on February 12, 2012 and issued its final report on June 14, 2015. The MWTRC's mandate was to find Truth, Healing, and Change by giving the Wabanaki people and others involved within the Maine Child Welfare System a place to voice their stories and experiences. The final report addressed findings made by the commission and provided recommendations to improve compliance with the ICWA.
Rena D. Newell is the incumbent chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. Previously, she was the Passamaquoddy tribal representative to the Maine House of Representatives during the 129th and 130th legislatures. During her two terms, she was the only tribal representative in the Maine House.
Rebecca Sockbeson is a Wabanaki scholar and activist in the field of Indigenous Peoples' education.
The Cherokee delegate to the United States House of Representatives is an office established via the Treaty of New Echota in 1835. The office was intended to represent the Cherokee people and was instrumental in negotiations of land transfer and sovereignty in the Treaty. The office went vacant until 2019, with the appointment of Kimberly Teehee of the Cherokee Nation. Teehee and tribal leadership attempted to get her seated in the 116th and 117th United States Congresses. In 2021, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians designated their own delegate, lawyer Victoria Holland.
The Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) is an American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in June 2017 as a non-profit with the stated purpose of promoting Native American History and Preservation. Representatives of NAGA have primarily been active in debates over Native American mascots, opposing their removal both by providing non-Native opponents of change with talking points or by members giving testimony in support of mascot retention.
