The Penobscot Nation has reclaimed 11,297 acres of ancestral land located near the base of Katahdin as one phase of a larger land return project between timber companies and the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to green spaces, partnered with the Penobscot Nation. The Penobscot Nation and the Trust for Public Land announced this land return in a joint press release on Sept. 17. The Maine Campus reached out to University of Maine community members who are directly impacted by the land reclamation.
“The Wáhsehtəkʷ effort is a part of the Tributary Land Returns — a collaboration between the four federally recognized Wabanaki Tribes and seven conservation organizations in Maine — to return over 50,000 acres to Wabanaki communities across 11 different projects,” the groups wrote in their statement.
“This set of projects was affirmed by the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, which also supports Wabanaki citizens, nonprofits and Tribal Governments in caring for these lands,” reads the collective statement.
The statement details some of the land’s contents, including 15 miles of streams, 865 acres of ponds and wetlands, and habitats for moose, trout and salmon. It also details some of the financial supporters of the effort and situates the reclamation within the context of the larger Tributary Land Returns project.
“With the completion of this first phase land return, Penobscot Nation now stewards approximately 140,000 acres of land, though together, the Wabanaki Nations — Mi’kmaq Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation — currently hold only one percent of their ancestral lands in Maine,” the statement reads.
The Maine Campus reached out to Liliana San Pedro, a University of Maine alum and Penobscot Tribe member who works for Wabanaki Youth In Science (WaYS) on events and programming, for comment via email.
“My work at WaYS is directly impacted by the land reclamation because our WaYS Trail Crew will be the ones helping restore the land and will provide plenty of opportunities for more events,” San Pedro wrote. “WaYS is always looking for places to hold events, practice our cultural traditions and learn from the land.”
San Pedro clarified what stewardship might look like for this land moving forward.
“Automatically with this land reclamation, Wabanaki people receive more work and opportunities, since this is a very big project,” wrote San Pedro. “Land back means the land is no longer ‘owned;’ yes, Wabanaki People get to decide what to do with the land and operations, but stewardship means protection of the land rather than ownership. Land Back means returning the land back to itself.”
This land return follows another partnership between the Mi’kmaq Nation and the Trust for Public Land to purchase and return 83 acres of land in Aroostook County, also part of the Tributary Land Returns effort, as announced through a statement published through the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
“[Tributary Land Returns] is one of the largest returns of private land in the history of the United States and it doesn’t come from a government mandate, but from a grassroots effort. For eight years the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, an intertribal body, and the First Light community, a group of non-native land-based organizations, have worked in close partnership to transform conservation, build trust and return land,” the statement reads.
The Maine Campus also reached out to Blake Getchell, third-year anthropology student with a Native studies minor, member of the Mi’kmaq Tribe and president of UMaine’s Indigenous Student Organization, for comment via email.
“I had heard about [the Penobscot reclamation] and seen a couple Instagram posts, but I don’t know much of the details surrounding it,” Getchell wrote. “My initial thoughts are positive, I hope that it expands the communities’ access to resources like sweetgrass and other plant medicines. Hopefully this will lead to more growth and development to the Nation and its people and serve as an example of what can happen.”
Trust for Public Land and the Penobscot Nation have launched an effort to raise $32.5 million in order to complete the land return and reconnect the full 31,367-acre parcel to the Tribe. They have currently raised $20.7 million.
“For the people who sold this land to the Penobscot Nation, they should continue their support by providing opportunities and funds; uplifting Wabanaki Voices and sovereignty,” wrote San Pedro. “Wabanaki people have incredible ideas and know what we want, we just need the funding and support: not people deciding for us. We need this support from everyone, especially in these uncertain times, with the current administration threatening decreased funding for marginalized groups.”
