Maine Memory Network

Penobscot snowshoes, ca. 1850

Contributed by: Abbe Museum Date: circa 1850 Location: Indian Island Media: Ash, hide, sinew

Band box basket, Penobscot, ca. 1850

Contributed by: Abbe Museum Date: circa 1850 Media: Ash splints, indigo dye

Northern Threads: Penobscot mocassins

A themed exhibit vignette within "Northern Threads, Part I," about telling stories through Indigenous clothing, featuring an essay by Jennifer Sapiel Neptune (Penobscot.)

Indians at the Centennial

Passamaquoddy Indians from Washington County traveled to Portland in 1920 to take part in the Maine Centennial Exposition. They set up an "Indian Village" at Deering Oaks Park.

Life on a Tidal River - Narrative

"The beauty of the Penobscot and Kenduskeag Rivers, as first described by Champlain, is again seen as a vital part of the history, heritage, and…"

Lincoln, Maine - Catholic Church

"By the mid-1800s, the Penobscot Indians had been practicing Catholicism for years, after being converted by European settlers."

Restoring the Penobscot River
by John Banks

My role as the Director of the Department of Natural Resources for the Penobscot Indian Nation

Decontie and Brown's venture in high fashion design
by Decontie and Brown

Penobscot haute couture designs from Bangor

Nation to Nation: Treaties and Legislation between the Wabanaki Nations and the State of Maine

Grade Level: 9-12 Content Area: Social Studies
This lesson plan asks high school students to think critically about and look closely at documentation regarding the Nation-to-Nation relationship between the Wabanaki Tribes/Nations and the State of Maine. This lesson asks students to participate in discussions about morality and legislative actions over time. Students will gain experience examining and responding to primary and secondary sources by taking a close look at documents relating to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (MICSA) and the issues that preceded and have followed the Act.

Wabanaki Studies: Out of Ash

Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: Science & Engineering, Social Studies
This lesson plan will give middle and high school students a broad overview of the ash tree population in North America, the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) threatening it, and the importance of the ash tree to the Wabanaki people in Maine. Students will look at Wabanaki oral histories as well as the geological/glacial beginnings of the region we now know as Maine for a general understanding of how the ash tree came to be a significant part of Wabanaki cultural history and environmental history in Maine. Students will compare national measures to combat the EAB to the Wabanaki-led Ash Task Force’s approaches in Maine, will discuss the benefits and challenges of biological control of invasive species, the concept of climigration, the concepts of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and how research scientists arrive at best practices for aiding the environment.