Maine Memory Network

Wabanaki people are the first people of Maine.

Archaeological and oral histories both signify that the Wabanaki have consistently lived in the territory now known as Maine longer than any other people. If you are not of Wabanaki heritage, you are an immigrant to Maine!

Photo (c) Christine Macchi, Photograph

This stone projectile point, made by a Wabanaki person came from the Middle Archaic Period, 5050 B.C. to 5500 B.C. and was excavated at Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site.

This painting is an artist's reconstruction of what a Wabanaki encampment on the coast of Maine would have looked like about 3000 years ago.

The human history of Mount Desert Island began thousands of years ago when the ancestors of the Wabanaki people came to the place they later called Pemetic (Pemotonet in Passamaquoddy), which translates to “Range of mountains.” Rising sea levels over the past 10,000 years have flooded older village sites, but a combination of archaeology on sites from the last 3,000 years, Wabanaki traditional knowledge, language, and other natural sciences create a picture of Wabanaki life here before the arrival of Europeans.

This pot was found at Harlow's Point along the shoreline of Lake Auburn in 1881. A Wabanaki potter made it during the Ceramic Period that began some 2700 years ago.

The vessel was reconstructed with fill material and tripod legs to suggest its original shape, and to add stability.

Silver brooches are objects of status and power for Wabanaki people, and worn by both men and women. Historically, non-Native silversmiths usually created the brooches, which were presented to Indian leaders as diplomatic gifts, by government officials.

Jason Brown grew up on the Penobscot Reservation, studied at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, and is a 2016 recipient of a First People's Fund award.

Brown’s Creation bracelet combines a geometric rendering in copper of the Wabanaki genesis—showing culture hero Glooscap's arrow splitting an ash tree—overlaid upon woven brown ash. He describes his inspiration,

"We know through the creation story that Wabanaki people came from the brown ash tree. By continuing to use brown ash in our basketry and artwork, we maintain and honor our connection to the past. Historically, copper was mined by Wabanaki people in the Bay of Fundy and cold formed into articles of adornment. When I combine all of these elements in a contemporary way, I feel that this piece is a powerful reflection of Wabanaki history and culture.”
Jason Brown, 2016