This year’s academic theme centers around the concept of indigeneity. Derived from the Latin word indigena, meaning “sprung from the land, native” the term indigeneity typically refers to the cultures and peoples hailing from a particular area of origin, and more specifically, the original inhabitants of a geographical area.
The indigenous cultures in Maine are of the Wabanaki Nations,—or the “People of the Dawnland”—comprised of four federally recognized tribes: Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Penobscot Nation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe (the Passamaquoddy Tribe includes the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk and the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik). They began to gain federal recognition in 1975 with the Mi’kmaq Nation finally achieving federal recognition in 1991. The Wabanaki Nations in Maine and their rich cultures, histories, languages, arts, music, and storytelling practices have existed long before the state of Maine, long before colonizers arrived on these shores. Citizens of the Wabanaki Nations have made substantive contributions to our country and to our state since it entered the Union officially in 1820, despite the challenges that have been brought to bear through our interaction. In more recent years, the state of Maine and the University of Maine System have attempted to begin the process of making amends for many historical oppressions, —including warfare, famine, disease, relocation from their lands, broken treaties, and tribal-state disputes—but this work has yet to be fully achieved and is far from complete. In fact, Wabanaki Nations in Maine currently have a more restrictive status than the other 570 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. While most of the Indigenous Peoples in Maine are citizens of the Wabanaki Nations, the territory that the state of Maine occupies also includes citizens of several other indigenous cultures from around the United States and the world.
Routledge Handbook of Critical Indigenous Studies by Sherman Alexie is a citizen of the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation and has writte several novels and short stories about his understanding of indigenous life in America.
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