U & D

If you are like me, your knowledge of Henry VII and John Cabot’s charter to explore and claim New World lands is a little fuzzy. Thanks to John Dieffenbacher-Krall (Executive Director of MITSC) for sharing this history we all should know. Quotes are from John’s email to me of 7-30-2009 and a sermon he [...]

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As Maine teachers, we sometimes struggles to find powerful ways to lead students to an understanding of the place of the Wabanakis in recent and contemporary Maine history and culture. Yet another opportunity has just appeared.
If we are really teaching Argument and Persuasion in language arts and history, why not tackle this:
In case you missed [...]

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The following is from Joseph Charnley (Wabanaki Connections), used with his permission.
I watched most of Monday night’s “We Shall Remain”: Episode 1. Although the series focus is
on Native nations in MA and further west, it is unique in that it relied
heavily on Native academic support and guidance. Each of the 5 episodes
(April 13, [...]

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We non-Native teachers know, and tell other teachers, that the best way to respond to LD 291 is to let the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Mi’kmaq educators and individuals speak for themselves. Unfortunately, until a “speakers’ bureau” or a digital video resource becomes reality, this is almost impossible for most schools.
So when I had to [...]

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News:
“Carcieri v. Kempthorne (Salazar) : which involved the Narragansett Indian Tribe’s petition to have land placed into trust by the Secretary of Interior.” (Turtle Talk, Feb. 24)
“The U.S. Supreme Court has limited the authority of the federal government to transfer land in trust for the benefit of Indian tribes.
The decision is a victory for states [...]

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Opportunity knocks! If you do not know about the inexpensive, articulate, wonderfully planned, fully researched, hands-on programs offered by Old Fort Western (museum, Historic Landmark, education center in Augusta), you need to rush to their website and download the Programs brochure (or just click my link – it is a .pdf file). There [...]

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Are you aware of Chief Joseph Orono? It will interest your students that Penobscot Tribal Nation Chief Kirk Francis says in an interview (see previous post) that Chief Orono could easily be on Mt. Rushmore as one of the Founding Fathers. Why?

Our white brothers (the Americans) tell us that they come to our land to [...]

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If you are not aware of Indigenous Voices, a monthly talk radio show focused on Maine Native topics, check it out today. On 8/19/08, the show dialogued with Penobscot Nation Tribal Chief Kirk Francis. This interview contains a terrific overview of tribal government and its process. Chief Francis discusses the Penobscot sovereign status, a [...]

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Civilization: from the Latin civilis, pertaining to the citizens (as opposed to the soldiers), polite, courteous. Not until around 1600 did the French and English begin to use the verb civilize, meaning to bring out of barbarism. Civilization was not used consistently until the late 1600’s, about the same time that barbarian came to mean [...]

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