In #Maine prisons, #NativeAmerican #SweatLodges are part of the program
A #Passamaquoddy elder has led over 100 sweats for inmates since 2007.

Reuben M. Schafir, Posted November 6, 2025

WINDHAM — "When the tarps of the sweat lodge are pulled back, a swirling cloud of steam wafts up toward the bear pelt draped overhead.

"It dissipates before reaching the razor wire that caps the fences around the recreation yard at the #MaineCorrectionalCenter.

"Between rounds in the ceremony, voices from inside command the retrieval of rocks warming in a fire pit a few feet away. Women carefully lift the rocks with shovels over an altar bearing a cedar bough and a turtle shell, and into the lodge.

"As Savannah Smith, 28, crawls out of the roughly 12-foot-wide structure, she grins.
'It’s a lot right now,' she said, her calves dotted with goosebumps as her body readjusts to the cool fall air after two hours inside the lodge.

"Her halting voice and still-glistening eyes give her away: 'I cried at every session we had.'

"It’s been nearly 20 years since #IndigenousPeople in Maine’s prisons won the right to practice their religion while incarcerated. Inmates say sweat ceremonies help them stay sober and connect them to their communities. And the state’s corrections commissioner heralds them as a sign of Maine’s #inclusivity and says they are part of a progressive approach to ensuring safety inside prisons and reducing the likelihood of future offenses.

"Since inmates won the right to hold sweat ceremonies, #BrianAltvater has traveled from his Down East home on the #PassamaquoddyReservation at #Sipayik (#PleasantPoint) to facilitate them. He is a #PipeCarrier and a #SweatLodgeKeeper — designations, he explained, that are chosen by the ancestors.

" 'I don’t deserve to be a pipe carrier and do this sort of work,' he told his teacher, David Gehue of #Sipeknekatik, Nova Scotia, when Gehue noticed his potential.
'Deserve’s got nothing to do with it,' Gehue, himself a respected spiritual leader, said. 'Once the ancestors pick you, you don’t have a choice.'

" 'Let me think about it,' Altvater said.

"That was several decades ago."

Read more:
https://www.centralmaine.com/2025/11/06/in-maine-prisons-native-american-sweat-lodges-are-part-of-the-program

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

#WabanakiNews #PassamaquoddyNation #IndigenousNews #RightToPracticeReligion

#VoicesFromTheBarrens: Film & Discussion

Panel Discussion (via Zoom): Tuesday, October 7, at 6:00 PM (pre-registration required)

"Join us for an online screening of the documentary Voices From the Barrens followed by and a panel discussion with REACH #Wabanaki Wellness Coordinator, #BrianAltvater, filmmaker #NancyGhertner and other guests. The film will be available beginning Thursday, September 25, 2025 till the evening of the panel discussion on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 6:00 PM.

"Voices from the Barrens, #NativePeople, #Blueberries and #Sovereignty, documents the wild blueberry harvest of the Wabanaki #IndigenousPeople from the USA and Canada as the tribes are challenged to balance blueberry hand raking traditions with the economics of the world market. The documentary was filmed from 2014 to 2019 and was released in 2020. It has been part of nine film festivals, part of the Maine Public’s Film Series, and at many colleges and universities across Maine and New England.

"Pre-Registration to view the film and to participate in the online panel discussion is required, please sign up below. Registrants will receive a follow up email with instructions and a link to the film and event.

"For questions contact: Tom Reynolds [email protected], 207-831-6980

"This event is free and open to the public. Contributions supporting our ongoing work are greatly appreciated.

"Nancy Ghertner, the film’s director, lives along Lake Ontario in New York. She was introduced to the Passamaquoddy at Sipayik while she was a student at Colby College where she was involved in a research project related to the tribal communities of Maine. She subsequently followed a path into the visual arts and has created numerous experimental and documentary films. Her 2011 feature documentary, 'After I Pick the Fruit' was screened at various film festivals and received a Documentary Achievement awards. 'Voices from the Barrens,' was started from Nancy’s research into agriculture labor across the international border."

Watch:
https://video.wlrn.org/video/voices-from-the-barrens-native-people-blueberries-and-sovereignty-ciuec4/

FMI:
https://www.wabanakireach.org/voices_from_the_barrens_film_discussion

#WabanakiREACH #WabanakiAlliance #WildBlueberries #MaineBlueberries #BlueberryHarvest #IndigenousSovereignty #FoodSovereignty #TraditionalHarvesting #TraditionalFoodSources #MaineEvents #BigAg #SolarPunkSunday