INVITATIONS TO DISRUPTION
STAND WITH YOUR BARE FEET UPON THE EARTH.
INTRODUCE YOURSELF, SAY HELLO.
LISTEN TO THE SOUNDS THAT YOU HEAR.
WHO IS MOVING AROUND YOU?
LISTEN TO THE SOIL BENEATH YOUR FEET.
WHO IS SENDING YOU MESSAGES?
BREATHE AND NOTICE THE SMELLS IN THE AIR.
BREATHE AND NOTICE THE TASTES ON YOUR TONGUE.
DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?
MAKE A GIFT OF YOURSELF.
RECEIVE YOUR SELF AS A GIFT.
RETURN TOMORROW.
REPEAT.
Bomazeen Land Trust
This project is organized by Wabanaki people with lineage ties to the lands and waters of western Maine. We are dedicated to social and environmental justice in Wabanakiak, to protecting and honoring culturally significant spaces through the rematriation of ancestral land and the continuance of cultural practice and presence.
Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship
The mission of the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship Psiw ut skitkamiq kignumin (the whole earth is our home) is to improve the health and well-being of Wabanaki people through a sustained effort to expand our access, management, and ownership of lands to practice our land-based cultures across Wabanaki homeland in what is now the State of Maine.
Land Peace Foundation
The Land Peace Foundation is dedicated to the protection of Indigenous rights and the preservation of the Indigenous Way of Life. Our work is focused on the protection and preservation of Indigenous land, water, religious and spiritual rights, and developing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies that benefit Indigenous Peoples. We also consult with governments and NGO’s to engage the best practices for collaborating with Indigenous populations and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge.
Guide to Indigenous Land and Territorial Acknowledgements for Cultural Institutions
The Guide to Indigenous Land and Territorial Acknowledgements for Cultural Institutions is a comprehensive guide for institutions such as museums, archives, libraries, and universities to recognize and respect Indigenous homelands, inherent sovereignty, and survivance.
Native Land Digital
“We strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see the history of their countries and peoples. We hope to strengthen the spiritual bonds that people have with the land, its people, and its meaning. We strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages across the world in a way that goes beyond colonial ways of thinking in order to better represent how Indigenous people want to see themselves.”
Dawnland Signals 11/19/20: Land Acknowledgements
“Join co-hosts Maria Girouard and Esther Anne of Wabanaki REACH for a lively discussion about land acknowledgements. Recognizing one’s place on the landscape has been a Native practice and tradition for countless generations. However recently we have witnessed a newfound interest and enthusiasm for acknowledging the land and its Indigenous connections in a multitude of spaces. With special guests Darren Ranco, Penobscot citizen and Chair of Native American Studies at the University of Maine; and Diane Oltarzewski, a Belfast resident, member of the Friends Committee on Public Policy, and board member for Wabanaki-REACH.”
Resources for Land Acknowledgement from Wabanaki REACH
Wabanaki REACH advances Wabanaki self-determination by strengthening the cultural, spiritual and physical well-being of Native people in Maine. We see a future where Maine and Wabanaki people join together, acknowledging truth, promoting healing and creating change.
Penobscot Nation Cultural & Historic Preservation Department Homeland Unit
The Penobscot people understood the complexities of their environment – how to navigate the Penobscot River in all seasons, for instance – and had a detailed knowledge of the land long before European settlers arrived. In this unit, students will become historians and gather information about the Penobscot or Wabanaki people and study maps with place names in Penobscot and explore their meanings. Students will then use what they learn about the language to navigate their way through the Penobscot River.
Penobscot Language Map: This is How We Name our Lands
“This map is a Penobscot guide to the place names given by our ancestors. On one side are the English translations, and on the other side are the Penobscot names. A separate gazetteer is for your reference for a quick connection between Penobscot and English. The names offer a window into the past and allow us to view the landscape at the heart of our culture. The meanings of the names tell us how we interact with the shape and character of the land and how we interconnect with the rivers, lakes, wetlands, falls, eskers, meadows, and rocks across our traditional territory.” – Penobscot Nation Cultural & Historic Preservation Department, Indian Island, Maine
*Note – purchase this map directly from Penobscot Nation Cultural & Historic Preservation Department by visiting the Penobscot Nation Museum.
STOP.
WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT PLACE IS THIS?
DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THIS LAND? IF YES, WHAT KIND?
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO GIVE THIS LAND BACK?
STOP.
IMAGINE A PLACE, A REAL PLACE, WHERE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE, SAFE, AND HAPPY.
WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS PLACE? WHOSE TERRITORY IS IT?
WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO GIVE THIS LAND BACK?
HOW DOES YOUR BODY FEEL WHEN YOU THINK THE WORDS: LAND BACK?
WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR STOMACH, CHEST, TEMPLES, SHOULDERS, JAW?
THIS IS A DAILY PRACTICE IN DECOLONIAL RECALIBRATION.
REPEAT OFTEN: WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO GIVE THIS LAND BACK?
Resource Generation: Land Reparations & Indigenous Solidarity Toolkit
A brief guide for Resource Generation members and other folks with access to land to support in education and resource sharing around land reparations.
Land Back! What Do We Mean?
This piece is meant primarily for non-Indigenous people living on Indigenous lands. It is supposed to confront, while simultaneously comforting your uneasiness around land back and reparation conversations and actions.
Land Back: A Yellow Institute Red Paper
The project of land back is about reclaiming Indigenous jurisdiction: breathing life into rights and responsibilities. This Red Paper is about how Canada dispossesses Indigenous peoples from the land, and in turn, what communities are doing to get it back.
STTLMNT
Featuring over 30 artists Indigenous to North America and the Pacific, STTLMNT is designed as a creative response and claiming of digital space to consider the impacts of colonization on a diverse number of tribal nations who continue to thrive despite its long term effects.
LANDBACK
On July 3, 2020, Land Defenders took to Mt. Rushmore to reignite the fight for the Black Hills and the closure of Mt. Rushmore, a symbol of white supremacy and racism. Now, 21 of those Land Defenders who stood in defense of the sacred Ȟesápa, the ancestral homelands of Lakota and many other Indigenous Nations, are facing criminal charges. Inspired by the action taken that day, NDN Collective has developed the LANDBACK campaign, a multi-faceted campaign to get Indigenous lands back into Indigenous hands, and empower Indigenous people across Turtle Island with the tools and strategies to do LANDBACK work in their own communities. The LANDBACK Campaign will officially launch on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 12, 2020.
NDN Collective
NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
Decolonize This Place
In October 9, 2016, Decolonize This Place staged the first of three Anti-Columbus Day actions at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). These unauthorized actions (in 2016, 2017, and 2018) have been attended by as many as a thousand people each year, and have been connected to an outstanding demand that the Museum participate in the formation of a Decolonization Commission.
AS I SIMULTANEOUSLY TAKE ACTIONS TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS RESURGENCE (A LOOKING FORWARD), I AM ALSO OBLIGATED TO HAVE A GAZE LOOKING BACKWARDS, BACK THROUGH THE MILLENNIA OF PLACES, PRACTICES, EMPTY BRANCHES OF FAMILY TREES – IT’S A GAZE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS THAT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. I SAY IT’S MY RESPONSIBILITY, BECAUSE I VALUE HAVING INTIMACY WITH THIS ANIMATE CREATION (THE WORLD), AND TO FOSTER RELATIONS TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, I NEED TO FIND THE WISDOM FOUND IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
AN INVITATION:
CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY BY CELEBRATING AND SUPPORTING NATIVE ARTISTS!
Jennifer Neptune
Jennifer Neptune (Penobscot) is an artist, writer, herbalist, and has worked in the field of cultural preservation for over twenty-five years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Maine. Jennifer has won national awards for her artwork, specializing in ash and sweetgrass baskets, beadwork, and porcupine quill jewelry. She has worked for the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance for over twenty years preserving traditions of ash and sweetgrass basketry, helping other artists to sell and market their work, and most recently working collaboratively with the University of Maine Sustainability Solutions Initiative to help prepare for the eventual arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer in Maine. She enjoys being in the woods and on the water and is currently working towards earning a Maine Guides license.
Mali Obomsawin
Mali Obomsawin is a bassist, singer and composer from Odanak First Nation, and one of GRAMMY.com’s top ten emerging jazz artists to watch this year. Her debut album Sweet Tooth (Out of Your Head Records, 2022) garnered international acclaim and was named in ‘best of the year’ lists from The Guardian, NPR, and JazzTimes upon its release. Evocative and thunderous, Sweet Tooth delivers a gripping and dynamic performance, seamlessly melding chorale-like spirituals, folk melodies, and post-Albert Ayler free jazz. Obomsawin’s ensemble occupies a musical universe completely their own, bringing skronk and reverence to every stage.
lisa nevada
lisa nevada is a naturalist, a dancemaker, collaborator & accomplice, and enthusiastic educator based in the pre-settler territory of the Canarsie (Brooklyn, NY). her practice has led to gifts of opportunities to meet, listen, learn, and witness an array of humans and more-than-human kin. her encounters with these life forces bolster her deep desire to create offerings of performance and education that highlight our innate relationship to place/Earth, and an urgent commitment to the health and restoration of plants and trees, soil, water and animals. lisa organizes and facilitates opportunities to engage all peoples in the observation of ecosystems of the natural world and of our human interactions to ignite a kinship with Mama Earth, centered on gratitude.
Dakota Camacho
Dakota Camacho is a multi-disciplinary artist / researcher working in spaces of indigenous life ways, performance, musical composition, community engagement, and education.
S.J Norman
S.J Norman (b. 1984) is a cross-disciplinary artist and writer. His career has so far spanned 15 years and has embraced a diversity of disciplines and formal outcomes, including solo and ensemble performance, installation, sculpture, text, video and sound. He is a non-binary transmasculine person and a diasporic Koori of Wiradjuri descent, born on Gadigal land. Since 2006 he has lived and worked between Australia, Germany, the UK and the United States.
James Eric Francis, Sr.
James E. Francis, Sr. is Penobscot Nation’s Tribal Historian, where he studies the relationship between Maine Native Americans and the landscape. James is an historical researcher, photographer, filmmaker, and graphics artist. Prior to working at the Penobscot Nation, James worked for the Wabanaki Studies Commission helping implement the new Maine Native American Studies Law into Maine schools. James co-produced a film, Invisible, which examines racism experienced by Native Americans in Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. In all mediums of his work (paddle, drum, canvas, film, and more), James integrates Penobscot connection to homeland, Penobscot History and Penobscot Culture.
Geo Soctomah Neptune (Niskapisuwin)
Geo is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township, a nation within unceded Wabanaki Confederacy territory in what is now referred to as Maine. Known mainly for their ash and sweetgrass basketry, Geo is a non-binary Two-Spirit whose artistic mediums include basketry, beadwork, and hand-poke tattooing. A Drag Queen and model for print and runway, Geo has been featured on magazine covers and catwalks across the country.
“Blackbird” by The Beatles sung in Mi’kmaq (Emma Stevens et al)
The International Year of Indigenous Languages is a United Nations observance in 2019 that aims to raise awareness of the consequences of the endangerment of Indigenous languages across the world, with an aim to establish a link between language, development, peace, and reconciliation. To bring awareness to this important cause students at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, Cape Breton recorded Paul McCartney’s Blackbird in their native Mi’kmaq language.
Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance
The Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA) is the premier basketmaking organization on the east coast, functioning as a collective and fostering the preservation of traditional basketmaking practices. In 1993 tribal baskemakers from the four federally recognized tribes in Maine (Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot) realized there were fewer than a dozen weavers younger than the age of 50 statewide amongst a tribal population of 6,000 and decided to create a pathway to teach this traditional art form. Today, due to MIBA programs, the average age of the 125 MIBA basket makers is 40.
RezDogs
The RezDogs are a Northern style powwow drum group based out of the Penobscot Reservation: Indian Island, Maine.
Indigenous Kinship Collective
IKC’s mission: “We are a community of Indigenous womxn, femmes, and gender non conforming folx who gather on Lenni Lenape land to honor each other and our relatives through art, activism, education, and representation. We, as matriarchs and knowledge keepers, center our intersectional narratives by practicing accountability with community and self-determination. We uplift intergenerational Indigenous voices and welcome mixed race, non-enrolled, Indigenous femme, non-binary, trans, two-spirit people. We denounce colonial power structures of leadership and blood quantum. We are circular and work in harmony with each other. We are defined by those who came before us.”
First Peoples Week Online Exhibit
First Peoples Week is The Greene Space’s first-ever multi-day celebration centering Indigenous communities in and out of NYC. Our mission is to provide meaningful space for Indigenous artists, organizers and thinkers to lead the conversation, and offer insights into their histories, cultures, concerns and visions for the future. This virtual exhibit will remain live until October 10, 2021.
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World
Tells the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. This PBS compilation of Native musical artists and the accompanying Spotify playlist were inspired by Rumble.
AN INVITATION:
CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING WITH MATERIAL LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT!
RECOGNIZE & SUPPORT INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY IN WABANAKI TERRITORY THROUGH DONATION AND DIRECT ACTION
Ways to Support MI’KMAQ Treaty Rights and Livelihood Fisheries
Thank you to Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective for compiling and distributing this list!
“Settler terriorism against Sipekne’katik First Nation fisher people and Mi’kmaw communities is not new. What is being demonstrated is more evidence of ongoing colonialism and racism within state policies, institutions, the commercial fishing industry, and conservation communities. The colonially constructed US/Canadian border prevents us from being able to travel to stand with our relatives. We call to international allies to act to disrupt the apparent settler complacency with the violence; we need you mobilizing and following the lead of Mi’kmaq communities.”
Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective
“Eastern Woodlands Rematriation (EWR) is boldly reclaiming the right to food and relationship to the earth for indigenous peoples. We initiate and help sustain existing community-led food and medicine projects across tribal communities in the Northeast. EWR prioritizes collective leadership and is led entirely by indigenous womxn and two-spirits. From our initial formation, we intentionally decentralize power to raise up folx as experts in their respective communities.”
RiVAL Rematriation Project, Thunder Bay Canada
This two year collaboration between The Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) and The Re-Imagining Value Action Lab (RiVAL) aims to open up public imagination and to grow political literacy about Indigenous rights, land, “public institutions” and the potential benefits of “decolonization” for all people.
Wabanaki Public Health
Wabanaki Public Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Tribal community members through connection, prevention and collaboration. While medical health involves diagnosis and treatment of the individual, public health emphasizes prevention and the promotion of good health among the entire community. While medical health tends to frame time within an individual lifetime, public health thinks in terms of generations. While medical health emphasizes medical care, public health considers our environment, behaviors and lifestyle, as well as medical care.
Wabanaki REACH Call to Action
“Come here to receive important and timely updates on any Call to Action in support of Wabanaki self-determination. Community members take action in support of Wabanaki sovereignty in a multitude of ways.”
Sunlight Media Collective
The Sunlight Media Collective is an organization of indigenous and non-indigenous media makers and activists, including Wabanaki tribal members, working to document and present stories affecting Wabanaki people and highlighting Wabanaki perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the intersection between environmental issues and tribal rights.
Nibezun
Nibezun resides on sacred Wabanaki land along the Penobscot River, where we celebrate culture as medicine, provide an inclusive space for healing, and promote sustainability for all people and future generations. Nibezun is dedicated to preserving and promoting all aspects of Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Abenaki ceremonies, traditions, customs, and language through practice and education.
Wabanaki Center
The Center is committed to building and sustaining a mutually beneficial relationship between the University of Maine and Native American communities. It is a gathering place for indigenous scholars engaged in advancing Wabanaki studies through teaching, research and publication.
DISRUPTION-INVITATIONS FOR FAMILIES:
THANKSGIVING, EDUCATION, AND CHILDREN
Rethinking Thanksgiving Toolkit from Indigenous Solidarity Network
“There are many different experiences we will have over Thanksgiving – some of us will have lots of food, some of us will struggle to have enough. Some will be surrounded by people and some will be alone or with just one other person. For many, it’s an important time of coming together with family. This day also gives us a chance to look at and change stories we have about our families and ourselves. Thanksgiving is based on myths that hide and erase the genocide that the United States is founded upon. What would it mean to tell a different story; an honest story? … The Indigenous Solidarity Network has developed this toolkit geared for white folks to discuss settler privilege and Thanksgiving with family, friends, and broader community.”
Oyate Thanksgiving Resources
Oyate is a Native organization working to see that our lives and histories are portrayed with honesty and integrity, and that all people know that our stories belong to us. Our work includes critical evaluation of books and curricula with Indian themes, conducting workshops on “Teaching Respect for Native Peoples,” administration of a small resource center and reference library; and distribution of literature and learning materials for children, youth, and their teachers.
All My Relations Podcast: ThanksTaking or ThanksGiving?
Matika Wilbur & Adrienne Keene|11/20/2020. Thanksgiving is a time for people to come together with their families and give thanks for the blessings in their lives; but the American holiday is rooted in historical fallacy and upholds tired settler colonial belief systems. Instead, let’s begin to understand the real story of Thanksgiving and the complex history undergirding this event in relation to Indigenous people.
American Indian Library Association 2020 Awards
The 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Award winning titles were highlighted during the American Library Association (ALA) Youth Media Awards, the premier announcement of the best of the best in children’s and young adult literature. The awards are new to the ALA Youth Media Awards lineup and are administered by the American Indian Library Association (AILA), an affiliate of the ALA.
Raising Luminaries Books for Littles – “Decolonizing Thanksgiving is an Oxymoron”
The Raising Luminaries (RL) movement brings families together to smash the kyriarchy. Here at Books For Littles (the primary focus of RL, while my kids are still little), you can find engaging children’s picture books to discuss hard topics with the next generation of kind and brilliant leaders.
The National Center for Collaboration in Indigenous Education
The National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education (NCCIE) is hosted by First Nations University of Canada, which has a 40-year history of being Indigenous-owned, operated, and controlled. The Centre is grounded in principles of respect, reciprocity, and relationship, which are understood in Indigenous ways and honoured according to Indigenous protocols and customs. The educational resources you find here are for Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators teaching students and learners of all ages.
**Please respect and read the ‘Acknowledgement Protocol’ that communities have provided before beginning lessons and/or watching videos.
Abbe Museum Educator Resources
As a leader in the state for Wabanaki education, the Abbe Museum offers many resources for teachers. We offer a wide range of classroom and reference material for use by educators, available for download. The Abbe also provides professional development opportunities for teachers, including workshops and in-service trainings.