#Wabanaki group restoring 245-acre farm in #SwanvilleME as food hub

#Niweskok, a Wabanaki-led #FoodSovereignty organization, recently bought the farm to aid its work reinvigorating traditional crops and land management.

by Gillian Graham, May 8, 2025

"A Wabanaki-led food sovereignty organization recently acquired a 245-acre farm in Swanville, marking the return of Wabanaki stewardship to ancestral lands in the Penobscot Bay region.

"Niweskok: From the #StarsToSeeds, a collaboration of Wabanaki #FoodAndMedicine providers, has focused for years on reinvigorating #TraditionalCrops and #LandManagement strategies, distributing #TraditionalFoods and hosting workshops. But they did not have a permanent land base until buying the farm.

" 'Now, with this land, we have permanency of place — and the ability to continue this work for generations to come,' said #AliviaMoore, a #PenobscotNation citizen and Niweskok co-director.

"Niweskok (which translates to 'dried seeds for planting' in the Penobscot language) raised more than $1.8 million in just three months to buy the farm, which had been used to raise cattle and board horses. The group continues to raise money toward its $3 million capital campaign goal.

"Acquiring the land in January was a major step toward restoring the #PenobscotBay region as a Wabanaki food hub and allows Indigenous communities to reconnect with #TraditionalFoodways, #medicines and #ecological #stewardship. Niweskok sees the land as an intergenerational center where Wabanaki values of care, reciprocity and sustainability can flourish.
Moore said the land will allow Niweskok to go much deeper in its food production work. The group’s plans for the land include educational programming, #SeedSaving, #WildHarvesting and cultural camps.

"Moore said the land itself would determine the name of the farm. The farm was selected because it is close to the ocean and Penobscot territory.
'Penobscot people have been, through the process of #colonization and #genocide, thoroughly removed from coastal access,' Moore said. 'So for us to truly have healthful economies, healthful social structures and political systems, we need to be able to engage in our coastal ecology.'

"The land, with access to the #GooseRiver, includes agricultural #fields, 140 acres of #forest, #wetlands and ponds. There are miles of riding trails through the woods, which Niweskok staff will map and decide which to maintain and whether more are needed for waterway access.

"Niweskok staff members have been preparing the soil for future planting and harvesting. Moore has been working on a 1-acre welcome garden that includes #perennials, #FruitTrees, #SweetGrass, #blueberries and other plants. Last week, she planted 70 #asparagus seedlings and 35 #rhubarb plants.

"Plans also are underway to spruce up a #farmstand where Niweskok will share #FreeProduce with neighbors.

"Moore has also been focused on working to restore the forests as #FoodForests — a process that will take years — and has started selective cutting to support existing #hazelnut groves and #BlackCherries.

"Niweskok will also create outdoor classrooms for community members to engage with the land, including demonstrations on plantings and #agroforestry techniques.

" 'An outdoor kitchen is one of our high-priority areas because so much of our time and how we want to support our community is being with our foods and outside as much as possible,' Moore said. 'Cooking over open fire is not only a way we want to engage with folks, but an important, culturally significant and really beautiful way to be together.'

"Niweskok this month was awarded the #EspyHeritageAward from the #MaineCoastHeritageTrust, an annual award that recognizes those who make outstanding contributions to #LandConservation while inspiring others. It was the first time the award was given to an #Indigenous-led group.

"Angela Twitchell, director of partnerships and public policy for Maine Coast Heritage Trust, said Niweskok’s work to restore the Penobscot Bay region as a Wabanaki food hub is 'an inspiring example of how land conservation is evolving.'

"For decades starting in the 1950s, land conservation was centered on ecological and species protection and protecting lands from people and development. It has since evolved to center its work in community, Twitchell said.

" '(Niweskok’s) work embodies resilience and a deep commitment to healing and nourishing both the land and the community,' she said. 'The collaborative work between #LandTrusts and Niweskok stands as a model to be replicated.'

"Moore said the award acknowledges the leadership of Niweskok, and added that other incredible Wabanaki-led land work is happening in the region. Moore hopes the award indicates that Maine conservation groups will continue to find ways to support Wabanaki leadership in conservation.

"Having the land has been a 'beautiful invitation' for the #NonWabanaki community 'to support Wabanaki food sovereignty and be in support of our leadership in care of the land,' Moore said."

Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/05/08/wabanaki-group-restoring-245-acre-farm-in-swanville-as-food-hub/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Ii0au

#WabanakiConfederacy
#MaineFirstNations #LandBack #FoodSecurity #FoodSovereignty #sovereignty #Wabanakik #WabanakiAlliance #Decolonize #SolarPunkSunday #LandStewards #stewardship #NatureEducation #Foraging #Maine

#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

When it comes to standing up to #Trump, I laud #Maine Governor #JanetMills. But when it comes to #Wabanaki #Sovereignty, building wind terminals on undeveloped islands (#SearsIsland / #Wahsumkik ), destroying untouched forests to supply #WesternMass with electricity, or building highways through farmland (#MDOT), we definitely DO NOT always see eye-to-eye!

Governor opposed to latest change to #SettlementAct backed by #WabanakiNations

by Emma Davis
Wed, April 9, 2025

"Discussion of legislation to afford the Wabanaki Nations more authority over their land revealed that Gov. Janet Mills does not support the change, presenting a steep path for a plan that otherwise has bipartisan support.

"After not testifying during the public hearing last week, the governor’s counsel, Jerry Reid, told the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that Mills’ concerns stem from the inability to predict the future needs of state government, an issue also raised in written testimony from the #MaineDepartmentOfTransportation, which was made available after the hearing.

"When pressed by committee members, Reid said he doesn’t have a specific example of an infrastructure project that would warrant seizing tribal land but that, 'We need to write the law mindful of the potential for problems.'

"While Reid and Wabanaki leaders noted that progress has and continues to be made to improve the relationship between the state and Wabanaki Nations, Reid added, 'the fact that we have such a good relationship right now might not always be true.'

"The U.S. government can seize private property for public use, a principle known as eminent domain, however that authority is restricted by the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which requires just compensation for land taken, as well as some federal laws.

"The 1834 federal Indian Nonintercourse Act prohibited land transactions with tribes unless authorized by Congress. However, the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act specified that that federal law was not applicable to the #HoultonBand of #Maliseet Indians, the #PassamaquoddyTribe and the #PenobscotNation.

"This is the act that has overall resulted in the Tribes being treated more akin to #municipalities than #SovereignNations. So far, sweeping changes to the act have failed due to opposition from Mills, but the governor, lawmakers and Wabanaki leaders have successfully made some targeted adjustments, including expanding tribal authority to prosecute crimes last year.

"The legislation being considered this session, #LD958, would amend the Settlement Act to prohibit the state from exercising eminent domain on trust and reservation land, which is protected under federal law, though fee land — or private property for which the owner owns the title — would still be subject to the state taking.

"The bill would also amend the 2023 #MikmaqNationRestorationAct to make this change for the Mi’kmaq Nation, which wasn’t included in the Settlement Act.

"On Tuesday, the Taxation Committee unanimously voted in favor of a bill to ensure equal tax treatment among all of the Wabanaki Nations, which Mills supports. #LD982 would provide the #MikmaqNation the same rights to sales tax revenue on its land that the other three tribes of the Wabanaki Nations were granted in 2022 through an amendment to the Settlement Act.
State hasn’t exercised this authority in decades, but argues it’s necessary

"The state hasn’t exercised eminent domain over #TribalLands since the #SettlementAct. However, testimony from Wabanaki leaders and state government officials underscore that it is a possibility."

Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/governor-opposed-latest-change-settlement-185134791.html

#MaineSettlementAct #EminentDomain #LandTheft #FirstNations #WabanakiConfederancy
#MaineFirstNations #Maine #MainePol
#NativeAmericanNews #TribalSovereignty #SaveSmilingHillFarm #SaveTheForests #MainePol

Bipartisan lawmakers, Wabanaki leaders propose next change to Settlement Act

by Emma Davis
Fri, April 4, 2025

"A bipartisan group of lawmakers presented legislation on Friday to prevent the state from being able to seize #Wabanaki land for public use without consultation.

"For the past several Legislative sessions, leaders of the Wabanaki Nations have worked with lawmakers to try to overhaul the 1980 #MaineIndianClaimsSettlementAct that has resulted in the tribes being treated more akin to municipalities than #SovereignNations.

"So far, sweeping change has failed due to opposition from Gov. #JanetMills, but the executive, lawmakers and Wabanaki leaders have successfully made some targeted adjustments, including expanding tribal authority to prosecute crimes last year.

"#LD958 represents the next area of focus, although an omnibus bill is still expected to be considered during the second regular session of the Legislature next year.

"Sponsored by House Minority leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) and bipartisan co-sponsors, LD 958 would amend the #SettlementAct and the 2023 #MikmaqNationRestorationAct — as the Mi’kmaq Nation hadn’t been included in the earlier act — to prohibit eminent domain, a protection already afforded to almost all other federally recognized tribes.

" 'Much of our land contains irreplaceable cultural, spiritual and ecological resources,' said #Passamaquoddy Tribal Rep. Aaron Dana, a co-sponsor of the bill who sits on the Judiciary Committee. 'This bill ensures those places are safeguarded and are not subject to #destruction or #appropriation. Too often in our history, our #TribalLands have been taken, divided and exploited under the guise of progress.'

"The U.S. government can seize private property for public use, known as eminent domain, however that authority is restricted by the #FifthAmendment U.S. Constitution, which requires just compensation for land taken, as well as some federal laws.

"Rep. Rachel Henderson (R-Rumford), a co-sponsor who sits on the Judiciary Committee, questioned whether the bill is in conflict with the Constitution. It is not, Faulkingham, tribal leaders and attorneys explained, because the Constitution outlines when eminent domain can be exercised but not that it can’t be further restricted.

" 'There’s nothing in the Fifth Amendment that prohibits a state from enacting laws that says we won’t do that,' Faulkingham said.

"LD 958 applies to land protected under federal law — trust and reservation land — but fee lands — private property for which the owner owns the title — would still be subject to state power of eminent domain. A constitutional amendment allows states to condemn individually owned plots within tribal reservations.

"Maine has seized Wabanaki land from the start of their intertwined histories, as the state territory today had first been inhabited by the Wabanaki people."

Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bipartisan-lawmakers-wabanaki-leaders-propose-204713964.html

#MaineSettlementAct #FirstNations #WabanakiConfederancy
#MaineFirstNations #Maine #MainePol #NativeAmericanNews #LandTheft
#PenobscotNation #PassamaquoddyTribe #HoultonBand of #Maliseets #MikmaqNation #Dawnland #TribalSovereignty