Second Annual Nihkaniyane Event at the Abbe This Week
DAWNLAND FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS PREMIERES JULY 12-14
BAR HARBOR—This upcoming weekend at the Abbe Museum and College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, it will be all about restoring history and building alliance.
The Wabanaki Nations, and others, continue to fight for rights and sovereignty and the Wabanaki Alliance will host its second annual Nihkaniyane event Thursday, July 11, at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor.
Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis said at last year’s inaugural event, “You know, we’ve been here for a few minutes–around 12,000 years–and we’re not going anywhere any time soon.”
This year’s Nihkaniyane will honor Rena Newell, Beth Ahearn, and Carol Wishcamper for their outstanding contributions and their support, friendship, and dedication to the Wabanaki Alliance and Wabanaki people and celebrate the accomplishments of the past year.
The event is a social get together with some fundraising and recognition. It’s all aimed at trying to continue to gain support for the Wabanaki Alliance and the work it does, according to Mi’kmaq Nation Vice Chief Richard Silliboy, who said the Wabanaki Nation is “trying to support the Wabanaki Tribes in Augusta (legislative representation) and trying to get bills passed that will benefit the Wabanaki Nations.”
“Over the past four years, the Wabanaki Alliance has faced setbacks, including the continued failure of the State of Maine to recognize our sovereignty, and celebrated accomplishments, from the passage of an amendment of the Maine Constitution to restore our history to the strength of the relationships and alliances we have built in our continued work in support of Wabanaki Nations,” said a recent press release.
According to the National Congress of American Indians, “There are 574 federally recognized Indian Nations (variously called tribes, nations, bands, pueblos, communities and native villages) in the United States.” This number includes four Wabanaki Nations: the Mi’kmaq Nation, the Penobscot Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.
Like most of the other federally recognized nations, the Wabanaki Nations are in a constant battle for their civil rights.
Two legislative acts were passed in 1980, the federal Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and a state law, the Maine Implementing Act, which implemented the federal act. These two acts are collectively referred to as the Settlements Acts.
The Wabanaki Alliance says, “For more than forty years, the state of Maine has used this legislation to deny the Wabanaki Nations the same rights, powers, privileges, and immunities as other federally recognized tribes in the United States.”
The Settlements Acts allowed three of the four Wabanaki Nations to be federally recognized: the Penobscot Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.
According to Vice Chief Silliboy the Mi’kmaq Nation was left out of the 1980 act and didn’t receive federal recognition until 1991 via the Mi’kmaq Nation Settlement Act.
Vice Chief Silliboy said that the Mi’kmaq nation was “left out because they said we were not a community” because the Mi’kmaqs were scattered throughout Aroostook County, among 23 different townships, rather than having a populace centered in a smaller geographic area. This geographic scattering of the population made it difficult to convene meetings and establish communication and a way forward.
The Settlements Acts legislation, according to the Wabanaki Alliance, was passed to “resolve a dispute between the federal government and the state of Maine over the illegal sale and seizure of federally protected tribal land.” These acts “required the Wabanaki Nations to give up their claim to their dispossessed lands in exchange for a federally funded pathway to buy back just 2.5% of the 12 million acres unlawfully lost.”
The Wabanaki Nations regard these acts as a failure that have resulted in the degrading of the Nations’ sovereign status and ability to self-govern as well as hampering their participation in laws that benefit Indian Country created by the federal government.
“They are the only federally recognized tribes to be treated in this way,” according to the Alliance.
According to the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federally recognized group is “an American Indian or Alaska Native tribal entity that is recognized as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States, with the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations attached to that designation, and is eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Furthermore, federally recognized tribes are recognized as possessing certain inherent rights of self-government (i.e., tribal sovereignty) and are entitled to receive certain federal benefits, services, and protections because of their special relationship with the United States.”
In 2023 Maine Governor Janet Mills vetoed a bill that would have given Wabanaki Nations more sovereignty, more rights, and allowed them to benefit further from federal laws. A June 2023 article by Maine Public says that, “The bill saw widespread support in both chambers despite Mills' opposition.” That veto was challenged in the Maine House of Representatives, but the 84-57 vote to upend the veto did not meet the two-thirds requirement for such a vote.
Vice Chief Silliboy is not only the co-chair of the Abbe Museum Board of Trustees but is also on the museum’s Wabanaki Council. According to Vice Chief Silliboy, the Abbe Museum is working to decolonize and try to help the Wabanaki People gain control of the direction of the Abbe.
The museum’s Wabanaki Council works with the Abbe’s board on different issues and it seems to be working pretty well says Vice Chief Silliboy. There are more Wabanaki on the Abbe board of Trustees than not and the Wabanaki Council is made up of two representatives from each community.
EVENT HONOREES
Rena Newell, former Chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik and Passamaquoddy Tribal Representative to the Maine Legislature, and past and current Wabanaki Alliance board member, exemplifies many of the best aspects of Wabanaki women. Among her many accomplishments during her four-year term as Passamaquoddy Tribal Representative, she sponsored legislation to secure clean drinking water for the Passamaquoddy at Sipayik. Newell has devoted much of her professional career to education including a stint as the Passamaquoddy tribal education director.
Beth Ahearn is the former director of government affairs of the Maine Conservation Voters and the Maine Conservation Voters Action Fund. Since the inception of the Wabanaki Alliance, she has been a strong, effective voice for the segment of the environmental community belonging to the Maine Conservation Alliance and Environmental Priorities Coalition to prioritize Wabanaki inherent sovereignty in their advocacy work. Beth regularly attended Wabanaki Alliance Tribal Coalition meetings and was an important contributor to the State House team, advising and implementing legislative strategy.
Carol Wishcamper is a founding supporter of the Wabanaki Alliance. She served as one of the five commissioners on the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one of the first in the world to examine issues of Native child welfare, and co-chaired the body. Carol continues to prioritize supporting Wabanaki Nations and Peoples through her faithful attendance at Wabanaki Alliance events, testifying and advocating for Wabanaki sovereignty, and confronting examples of racism and colonialism in her own community.
EVENT DETAILS
The second Annual Nihkaniyane event will be held at the Abbe Museum in the backyard on July 11 from 5:30-7 p.m. The Abbe Museum is located at 26 Mt. Desert Street, Bar Harbor.
For more information please contact Amy Cookson at events@wabanakialliance.com.
You can also check out these links about the upcoming even and last year’s event.
https://www.wabanakialliance.com/nihkaniyane2024/
https://www.wabanakialliance.com/nihkaniyane2023recap/
DAWNLAND FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS
BAR HARBOR—The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas runs from July 12-14
The Dawnland Festival of Arts and Ideas premieres on July 12-14, 2024, at the College of the Atlantic (COA). This unique multi-day event is an evolution of the popular Abbe Museum Indian Market (AMIM) and Native American Festival that featured invitation-only Native arts markets and performances. The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas includes those elements but will also spotlight conversations by Wabanaki and other Indigenous leaders on some of the biggest questions of our time, including climate, democracy, and food systems.
“Native arts and cultures cannot be separated from Native ways of knowing. The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas continues to celebrate the Native creative economy on Wabanaki homelands while lifting up Indigenous thought leadership vital to the conversation on a healthy planet and society for us all.”
Betsy Richards (Cherokee), Executive Director & Senior Partner with Wabanaki Nations
The Festival will be free to the public and is being supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Maine Office of Tourism, along with a partnership with College of the Atlantic. Among the speakers will be attorney and author Sherri Mitchell (Penobscot), James Beard Award-winning Chef Sherry Pocknett (Mashpee Wampanoag), and Native rights attorney Michael-Corey F. Hinton (Passamaquoddy).
Musician Firefly the Hybrid (Penobscot) will also take the stage for a one-of-a-kind performance during the weekend. More than fifty leading Native American artists from across the U.S. and Canada will share artwork ranging from ash baskets, beadwork, textiles, painting, fashion, and pottery representing the breadth and excellence of Indigenous art.
Known for its stunning coastal beauty and vibrant cultural scene, Bar Harbor is a significant place to the Tribal Nations of the Wabanaki Confederacy (Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot): a site of exchange and waterways that connected all of the Nations together. For many visitors, this will be an opportunity to engage Wabanaki thought leaders and artists—alongside their national counterparts for a weekend of inquiry, creativity, and celebration.
The Dawnland Festival of Arts & Ideas is free and open to the public.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
The schedule is subject to change.
FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2024
6:30 pm - Opening Reception on the Patio of Gates Community Center
8:00 pm - Featured Performance in Gates Auditorium: Firefly the Hybrid, Penobscot
SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2024
10:00 am - Welcome and Market Opens
Performance on the Market Stage: Burnurwurbskek Singers, Penobscot
11:00 am - Panel in Gates Auditorium: Arts Transforming Our Futures
1:00 pm - Guest Performance on the Market Stage
2:00 pm - Panel in Gates Auditorium: Weaving a Sustainable Environment
4:00 pm - Featured Performance in Gates Auditorium: Jennifer Kreisberg, Tuscarora
5:00 pm - Market Closes
SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2024
10:00 am - Market Opens
10:00 am - Performance on the Market Stage: Jennifer Pictou, Mi’kmaq
11:00 am - Panel in Gates Auditorium: Savoring Native Food Wisdom
1:00 pm - Performance on the Market Stage: JJ Otero, Navajo/Hopi
2:00 pm - Panel in Gates Auditorium: Recognizing Sovereignty as a Stepping Stone to an Enduring Democracy
3:30 pm - Performance on the Market Stage: Hawk Henries, Nipmuck
5:00 pm - Market Closes
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Wabanaki Alliance was founded in 2020 by the Mi’kmaq Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation to build political power and educate Mainers about the need for tribal sovereignty.
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
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