#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

If events transpire and legislation *is* passed pushing for the selloff of public lands, the BLM lands adjacent to the ranch will likely be some of the first to go to auction (at least according to this map published by various sites: https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/congress-making-more-250-million-acres-public-lands-available-sale#) . If this occurs, we will likely be starting some kind of crowdfunding campaign to try to purchase it at auction.

Should the land adjacent to us become mines, off-road courses, a power plant, a resort, subdivision, or industrial agriculture (or any combination thereof), it is highly likely that all or most of the residents here could lose our water source to overuse as we've seen in the Central Valley, or to pollution as seen on Navajo lands here in the Southwest and land elsewhere. This would make the regeneration project impossible, and our life here infeasible.

More broadly, though, should the ranch be able to expand in this way, we could actually do more to protect and steward the adjacent land than we currently can. While we hesitate to claim this is a silver lining to what may ultimately be a final nail in the coffin to ecosystem collapse here and elsewhere, depending on how much funding we could accumulate, we could potentially eliminate some of the off-roading and illegal dumping that is currently destroying the land adjacent to us and elsewhere in Wonder Valley.

We've discussed various ways of making this land publicly accessible still, also, and the potential of buying through a trust or other avenue to ensure we are not the *sole* "owners" and that the community has legal but conditional rights to the land. There is a local group, Mojave Desert Land Trust, that follows a similar model as far as we know, and we hope to learn more if this legislation progresses in the direction we fear it might.

If we could help regenerate this land and cultivate native food sources, we could potentially also provide a free-access native plant food forest to the community -- and to wildlife that otherwise has very few food sources in this region.

Preventing the development of resorts and other big businesses in Wonder Valley has been on the mind of our community since before we came here - plans are consistently being submitted for large resorts in the Valley, and so far only beauracratic red tape has kept the actual development of these at bay. Given a long enough time frame, we know that this area will be the subject of heavy development - and the beginnings of this are already underway. We assumed, however, that the BLM lands were safe, and that we would retain at least some critical wildlife corridors and habitat. This administration's desire to sell off this land threatens this, and we hope to be a part of the resistance should we have the resources to do so.

#BLM #LandStewards #USPol #PublicLands #California

#WabanakiStudies should be taught at all #MaineSchools

OpEd by Hope Carroll, December 26, 2023

"#Wabanaki history is ingrained across #Maine and has deep rooted cultural relationships with major natural landmarks that many of us see everyday. However, there is a concerning gap surrounding the important aspects of our state’s rich Wabanaki history and what little many students learn about it in Maine schools.

"Wabanaki studies need to be consistently incorporated into all Maine school districts. According to a 2022 report done by the #AbbeMuseum, the #MaineACLU, the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission and the #WabanakiAlliance, the Wabanaki studies law passed by Maine in 2001 is not appropriately enforced across the state.

"The law 'requires schools to teach Maine K–12 students about Wabanaki territories, economic systems, cultural systems, governments, and political systems, as well as the Wabanaki tribes’ relationships with local, state, national, and international governments,' the report says.

"The Portland public school system recently incorporated a Wabanaki studies program into its curriculum. This will hopefully be a good example for other districts across Maine and encourage them to do the same.

"Teaching Wabanaki studies will help children gain a better understanding of the state. In time, this can help them develop a closer relationship with the #land and our responsibility to ensure that it is cared for and treated with respect.

"'Through #traditional stories representing the terrestrial and aquatic systems, important [Wabanaki] values are imparted that safeguard culturally significant resources from overuse and ensure the persistence of the people and culture,' says Natalie Michelle, interdisciplinary studies and research assistant of native environmental studies in climate change at the University of Maine.

"It is more important than ever that we look to native science as we face irreversible damage to our climate. We must prioritize implementing these ideals early into the educational careers of children so they go on to practice them throughout their lives.

"Western science and education has taught the ideals of dominance over nature for centuries. This is reflected in practices that have contributed to the #extinction of animals, rises in #NaturalDisasters, food and water shortages and the numerous other effects of #ClimateChange. Instead of connecting with #nature, we are often taught to distance ourselves from the #NaturalWorld. We are taught to use vague and nonspecific naming tools like 'it' to refer to any non-human being.

"'We use it to distance ourselves, to set others outside our circle of moral consideration, creating #hierarchies of difference that justify our actions — so we don’t feel,' says Robin Kimmerer, professor of environmental and forest biology at the State University of New York College of #EnvironmentalScience and #Forestry.

"Kimmerer talks of alternatives to using 'it' to put ourselves on the same level as other living beings, recognizing them as relatives by calling them by their name. But she says that this can be difficult for many of her students because they were not taught these alternatives until now.

"In my experience growing up in Maine and going to school, I never encountered a class focused on Wabanaki studies until college. I am grateful to have this opportunity now. But it has been difficult for me to implement these new ideals into my thinking toward the land around me because they seem so foreign.

"Using the word 'foreign' seems wrong when describing ideals that have been used in Maine since long before any of us were here. But Maine schools and communities have an opportunity to change this.

"Children who grow up in this state have the right and responsibility to know the history of the land around them. They have the right and responsibility to understand the negative implications of #colonization and #ForcedRemoval of the #WabanakiTribes and how despite horrible #historical events, the Wabanaki people have endured and developed their own #sovereign structures.

"In order to create more inclusive classrooms that incorporate all aspects of our state history and work towards building respectful relationships with Maine land, other communities should follow the exciting example being set in #PortlandMaine."

Source:
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/12/26/opinion/opinion-contributor/wabanaki-studies-maine-schools-education/

#WabanakiConfederacy #LandBack #IndigenousPeoples
#IndigenousSovereignty #ClimateCrisis #LandStewards
#Stewardship #IndigenousNews #NativeAmericanNews

Tribes Sue Six Oil Giants for #ClimateDeception

"These oil companies knew their products were dangerous, yet they did nothing to mitigate those dangers or warn any of us about them, for decades," said the chairwoman of the #ShoalwaterBay Indian Tribe.

Julia Conley
Dec 20, 2023

"Two Indigenous tribes in #WashingtonState said Wednesday that they intend to force several oil giants 'to help pay for the high costs of surviving the catastrophe caused by the #ClimateCrisis,' as they filed lawsuits in the state's largest trial court.

"The #Makah Indian Tribe and Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe filed two separate complaints in King County Superior Court against #ExxonMobil, #Shell, #Chevron, #BP, #ConocoPhillips, and #Phillips66, saying the defendants must be held 'accountable for their deceptive and unfair conduct, and pay for the damage their deceptive conduct has caused and will cause for decades to come.'

"The lawsuits—among dozens filed against #BigOil since 2017—detail the extent to which the companies have long known that their fossil fuel extraction would drive planetary heating and the resulting #SeaLevelRise, #ExtremeWeather, #PublicHealth crises, and other impacts of the climate crisis, which now costs the U.S. roughly $150 billion per year just in damages from #hurricanes and other weather disasters.

"'We are seeing the effects of the climate crisis on our people, our land, and our resources. The costs and consequences to us are overwhelming,' said Timothy Greene Sr., chairman of the Makah Tribal Council. 'We intend to hold these companies accountable for hiding the truth about climate change and the effects of burning fossil fuels.'"

https://www.commondreams.org/news/tribes-sue-oil-companies

#ExxonLied #BigOilLied #Lawsuits #IndigenousPeoples #ClimateCrisis #LandStewards #Stewardship #IndigenousNews
#NativeAmericanNews

Hoopa Valley Tribe Acquires 10,395 Acres Bordering the Western Boundary of their Reservation.

Friday, 22 December 2023

“'#California #NativeAmerican tribes are leading the way conserving California’s lands for future generations,' said California Natural Resources Agency Secretary #WadeCrowfoot. 'We are proud to support this leadership and help to enable the return of #HupaMountain property to the #HoopaValleyTribe. Ancestral land return like this is not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do as tribal communities have cared for these lands since time immemorial.'"

https://kymkemp.com/2023/12/22/hoopa-valley-tribe-acquires-10395-acres-bordering-the-western-boundary-of-their-reservation/

#LandBack #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousSovereignty #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #LandStewards #Stewardship #IndigenousNews #NativeAmericanNews