File #652: "DV-428.pdf"

^

Wabanaki

A llia n ce

Supported

bya grant from the Penobscot Nation

Money arrives,
lands bought
went to press, checks arrived from the
federal government addressed to individual
members o f the Penobscot tribe, in the
amount o f $339 each. Senior citizens,
ccause of a SI million set-aside, received
S8J7 each. Another quarterly payment is
expected June 15.
Last Fall’ federally funded settlement of
s
Maine I,id,an land claims, a total of
S8I.5 million, has netted Penobscots
about $800,000 in interest, and som e 70
percent o f that amount will be distributed
to tribal members, informed sources
said. The remaining 30 percent will be
reinvested by the federal government,
which holds the principal.
Tribal members voted on the distri
bution plan - one o f several options
presented — at a general meeting held last
month at fndian Island. A similar meeting
was scheduled for Passamaquoddy Indians
at their two reservations, to deal with
their share o f the claims interest.
Wabanaki Alliance has not been allowed
to attend these meetings, despite requests
from this newspaper to cover these events.
Reaction to the anticipated funds has
been less than ecstatic al Indian Island. A

number ot persons said they would refuse
to sign forms making them eligible for
per capita funds. One woman said she is
against the settlement and to accept the
money would weaken her position.
Others, who plan to accept the funds,
have small-scale plans. "1 heard one per
son on this street say, ‘Oh, I’ going to
m
build a little patio. ’ I heard one person say
I m going to bank it.’ ” said Diane Wilson
o f Indian Island.
For those tribal m em bers under the age
of 18. a trust fund has been considered,
that could not be drawn on until the person
com es o f age.
Senior citizens will benefit from $1
million SCI aside expressly for them.
Both tribes have set aside that amount for
the elderly, a special benefit that helped
win support for the settlement from those
persons over 60years o f age.
Additional tribal m eetings will have to
be scheduled to deal with future distri
bution and re-investment o f interest
money, earned from a $27 million trust
fund held bv the U.S. government. Ap
parently. no long term comprehensive plan
has yet been adopted.
[Continued on page 11]

Tough drug law in force

Tribal census takes
on new meaning
INDIAN ISLAND — The 1980 Penobscot
ation census has been released, and the
• tal tribal membership is pegged at 1,449,
net increase o f 27 persons over the
'Cvious year.
With the settlement last year o f the land
aims act — and the prospect o f per
ipila disbursement o f money to tribal
embers —
the census list becomes
ideal and som etim es controversial,
snewed interest in the census list is
iticipated.
The 1 member census committee held
2
rce meetings, each m em ber receiving
5 per meeting attended. Out o f 120
quests for membership, only 52 were
proved.
Members of the com m ittee are Nicholas
nv. Francis Mitchell, Beth Sockbeson,
:orge Mitchell. Donald Nelson, Joseph
ancis, Watie Akins, Irving Ranco,
ilcs Francis, Francis Ranco, Gilbert
ancis, Kenneth Paul Jr. These eleven
:n and one woman also happen to be the
tire Penobscot Nation tribal council.
Of the 1,449 members, about 500 live
Indian Island. The reservation has
:reased by some 200 individuals in the
st few years, as new housing is conucted.

Dow, census com m ittee chairmai
stated m certifying the printed repor
to the best of the com m ittee's ability th
1981 census list is a .complete and precis
document, listing ail Penobscot men
bers. The list is also verified bv trib;
Gov. Timothy Love, and tribal eler
Blanche Corbett.
There were five intermarriages in 198(
David McGrane to Deborah Davis; Dougla
Francis to Candace Keast; David Sapicl t
Sue Simon; Terry Sullivan to Herbet
Ring Jr.; Christine Elaine Mitchell ti
Michael Vermette.
Nine children w ere born into the tribe
last year, and, interestingly, ten m ore were
reported for 1979 who had not been recordHeather Marie Baker, Ryder W. Bolieau,
Ashley R. Coffman, Joseph M. Dana,
Domekin A. McDougall, Carissa L. Nor
wood, Andrea L. Pardilla, Joel S. Sirois
and Seneca B. Stevens.
For 1979, the previously unpublished
arrivals were Douglas J. Francis Jr.,
Maliyan M. Francis, Jeffrey J. Fugate Jr.,
Brianne Dawn Lolar, W asuwegj F. Mc
Donald, Jason C. Neptune, Eleanor M.
Paul, Christopher M. Raymond, Michelle
’(Continued on page 10)

INDIAN ISLAND — A recently organ
ized tribal public safety committee has
drawn up a new “ sale o f drugs ordinance,"
and the strict regulations are already in
effect, a member reports. If convicted,
you could be banished from tribal lands
for life.
Al Sapiel, chairman o f the committee,
said drugs are “ a big problem. It’ a
s
problem everywhere, but where we're

so small we notice it quicker, and som e
thing’ got to be done."
s
Sapiel said the drug law, intended to put
a full stop to sale of illegal drugs on the
reservation, applies to “ scheduled drugs,”
as described in tribal law, title 17 and 17A.
Drugs named in that section include
angel dust,' hashish, amphetamines,
cocaine, opium, heroin, methadone and
(Continued on page 8)

Canoeists depart Boston for Big Cove, N.B.
ALONG THE MAINE COAST - At
presstime, a dozen Boston area Indians led
by Penobscot, Sam Sapiel o f Indian Island,
were paddling their way from Boston to Big
Cove, an Indian reservation in New Bruns
wick.
The young men and their leader, who is
recreation director for the Boston Indian
Council, departed their home city May 15,
and expect an 1,100-mile round trip.

The purpose ot the venture is to raise
funds tor a wilderness experience program
tor young Indian people.
When the paddlers reach Pleasant Point
Passamaquoddy reservation, near the east
ernmost point in the U.S., they plan to hold
a clambake and sacred pipe ceremony.
Their motto is “egsmienctj,” let us push
forward.

Truck submerged in Penobscot
INDIAN ISLAND — A green pickup
truck sat on the bottom o f the Penobscot
River between the reservation and Milford
shore this month, having sat underwater
since it crashed through thin ice, last
Dec. 28.
.- The truck-.-operated by Charlie Rustin of
Milford, was first reported sunk by Ernest
Goslin o f Indian Island, who reported the
incident to Indian Island police. Indian

police notified Old Town police, who
turned the matter over to State Police. No
charges are known to have been Filed
against Rustin, a Vietnam veteran who
reportedly stood at attention and saluted
as his truck sank through the icc.
Penobscot tribal officials hoped to test
jurisdiction on the river by claiming the
truck. Four buoys mark the sunken truck's
location.

editorials
Some reward
Indian Township social services director John Stevens has about
had a.
He may move oil the reservation, and take a non-Indian job. After
years and years of working for his people, some o f those years as
governor, some as Maine Commissioner o f Indian Affairs, he is
anont ready to call it quits.
Who could blame him? Stevens recently took a job as director of
soeta services, meaning that he dispenses welfare to needy tribal
I'h-tt1 nmS'.t

° rdT

eS aT ° ached him ~ a,,d

the nepotism

Iha sometimes works on the reservation — they demanded help
Slovens is a lair man, and he told them they would have to qualify
ike anyone else. So they put Stevens in the hospital with brass
knuckles. It tins is Stevens reward for being fair and dedicated, he
has good reason to leave.
But if people like John Stevens leave the community, it will be the
~
I T
3* l0S‘S' And 'f mea,1S somethin§ ^ wrong. Stevens told
Pern io h , yT ay "° 1 S 3lmOSt a fl8h t ” in the welfare business.
1
People have the expectation that things will simply be handed to
mem, ne says.
Those- two men who assaulted Stevens DO need help. As the
ndian Township health center can attest, alcoholism is still the
number one problem in the community. Stevens said they were
intoxicated, perhaps also on drugs.
We take this opportunity to recognize the good, solid work o f John

not'iet himd own h° ^

'ab°red * hC'P * * ^
°

^

Kudos for Cohen
What do you say when you want to change your editorial position?
Some may say this is wishy-washy; we think it is wisdom.
T ' r ™ 1S' C°hen S£ emed an unlike1^ choice for ^airm an
ot the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, given his “anti-Indian”
Irib e f

StatementS hC h3d made about

supporting Maine

Cohen got the job. and it now appears that he deserves it The
ambitious, diligent Republican legislator has been — from recent
tubal reports — an advocate of Indian causes. The Penobscots
especially report that Cohen is able and responsive
rimothy Woodcock, a Cohen staffer who is now head counsel to
the select committee, has been praised.
Maine Indians need influence in Congress, and Indians across the
U.S. need the attention of Washington. Indians will not longer be
ignored, as Passamaquoddys and Penobscots have demonstrated in
the land claims case.

Guest editorial

Believe in yourself
Anger is an uulward sign toward someone.
Depression is an inward sign against
oneself.
riie.se arc emotional stresses too:
anxiety and fear. Anxiety builds up when
changing situations are out o f control and
Tear is where there is nothing anyone can
do about it and anger is where someone
could have changed the situation but
didn't and guilt is when we could have
changed but didn't.
Anger can be healthy. It can help us
change to a better environment. Anger can
fight and pinpoint a fear and let us face it
and overcome it. Burying anger can buUd
fear that can lead to depression and
maybe suicide. Anger makes me see the

worst in you and the hurt in myself. If
we deny our anger and swallow it, it will
rebel against our body and becom e an
illness to our body. It’ human and not
s
wrong to feel pain and anger, what be
com es right or wrong is how we express
our pain and anger.
Depression is guilt over the action by
not seeing new hope on a focus of our
problems, saying 1am not afraid o f tomor
row tor 1 have seen yesterday and 1 live
and love today; we must dream and
believe in ourselves and our ability to
dare to challenge the impossible, to under
stand that suffering, frustration and
failure are our help to cope, to develop
patience and persistence, the balance of
lifeBy Sky Owl

R
n<d° 1
frfendENDS

1 hCSC lhre<! India" Is‘ d g‘rls demonstrall! ‘hat to be truly happy “"

Indians out in the cold
The Philosophy o f " d o nothing, get
nothing’’ should be understood to mean
that if the tribes and organizations in New
England don’ attempt to impact the
t
President and C on gress immediately,
Indians will be on the outside looking in
for at least the next four to six years.
Policy being established now by the
Administration will apply over the next
four years and affect future policy, with the
possibility o f going into the next adminis
tration. The time to push for changes in
policy is now. The tribes and organizations
should be developing a packet containing
specific information supporting arguments
which substantiate the exclusion o f Indians
from budget cuts being proposed. Indivi
duals should also begin sending telegrams
and letters to their congressm en and
representatives and senators, from each
state, in support ot Indian budget requests.
Indian Tribes arc legal governmental
entities protected by law — constitutionally
and Congressional!}' legislated, based on
Treaties. Indian organizations are legal
entities created under state laws and are
the main service delivery providers for
Indian Tribal m em bers residing and
employed in urban and rural areas.
The Reagan-Bush position paper con
cerning Indians states, " I would support
Indian government through the fulfillment
of treaty obligations and financial assist
ance, and not supplant Indian government
by federal government bureaucrats.”
I fully respect the unique trust relation
ship between the United States govern
ment and the federally-recognized Indian

tribes. However, having served as gover
nor o f the state which has som e o f the
largest urban Indian com munities in the
U.S., I am aware o f the unique nature of
their situation and o f the fact that their
problem s have been largely ignored in the
past. The situation o f the urban Indian,
the off-reservation rural Indian com
munities, and the tribes not recognized by
the federal government must be looked
into with the goal o f establishing ways and
means of securing better opportunities
for them.”
It appears all grant-in-aid federal
agencies are either being cut severely or
eliminated. Block grants, in the form of
revenue sharing, will be made directly to
states which have not been amenable to
Indians. The only agency to go untouched
and being increased is the Department of
Defense whose supplemental budget was
submitted to Congress and passed easily
within 30 days. The Administration is
talking about decentralizing their authority
to states.
Questions which must be answered are:
What will be the impact on your tribe
or organization?
What will be the' impact on the state and
New England?
How will Indians nationwide be af
fected?
Notify your congressional delegation
immediately- and tell them that their
district will be affected if Indians in the
state are not going to be served.
Signed by the follow ing Penobscot
Nation officials: Governor Tim Love,
James G. Sappier, Michael Ranco.

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Page 3

letters
Maliseets eligi ble?

Keep it up

Presque Isle

Enterprise. Alabama

To the editor:

To the editor:

I am a Maliseet Indian with a little
French descent in me. My people on my
'atiler’ side came from Tobique Point,
s
N.B.
My great-great-grandfather was Newell
Bear. who lived to be around 110 or 116
ears old, and my grandfather was 102
cars old when he passed away. His name
kas Peter Bear. My father was Mitchell
lear: he passed away at the age o f 85.
n 1942. at Presque Isle. Me.
At about this lime I embarked on an
*\rmy troop transport ship, the U.S.S.
Harry Allen from Norfolk, Virginia for
North Africa . . . M orocco, Algiers, Tuni
sia, Sicily. Italy. France, and Germany,
Corsica and Sardinia, in between Italy and
France . . . this is all through W. W. 1.
1
What I am coming at is. I would like to
know if I am eligible for the land claims
situation. If so, could you people let me
know what my part would be, if any.
I’ be waiting for an answer o f some
ll
kind.
Clarence J. Bear

Enclosed please find my check for
SI0.00 to renew my subscription to the
Wabanaki Alliance and a donation.
We enjoy the paper very much, esp e
cially the "Flashback” photos and letters.
(In the March issue, the other lady in the
picture is Vivian Francis Massey. I be
lieve.)
K eep up the good work.
Velma N. Jones

Exchange
Forestville, Calif.
To the editor:
We enjoy receiving and reading your
publication. Recently you sent a notice
to renew our subscription. Would you
consider exchanging publications with us?
Native Self-Sufficiency is published
six times a year. Past issu es have covered
topics such as gardening, solar energy,
weatherization. and fundraising.

Very informative

Victoria Bomberry

Aloha

The Netherlands

Honolulu

To the editor:

To the editor:

Enclosed you will find $6 to renew my'
;ubscription.
Your newspaper is very informative
'or me, and the other m em bers of “ De
KIVA.” a Dutch and Belgian Indian
support Organization . . . the only way to
cecp informed about the northeastern
ribes. I think the usefulness o f the paper
ould even be improved by covering som e
what more fully the other New England
ribes because Wabanaki Alliance is the
>nly regularly published Indian newspaper
n New England.

Please allow m e this opportunity to
thank you for the information you provided
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs on the
Maine Indian Land Claims.
This information will be o f great value
and help to us in our study of Hawaiian
Land Claims.
We hope we can reciprocate your kind
ness in the near future and look forward to
talking to you again.
If you are ever in Hawaii, please be sure
to contact me.
Aloha,

Dr. F. L. Wojciechowski

Wabanaki Alliance

Vol. 5, No. 5

Salmon-chanted evening
Nick Dana of Indian Township tries his luck from the Princeton bridge at Big Lake.

Joe Kealoha
Trustee

May 1981

Published monthly by the Division of Indian Services [DIS) at the Indian
Resource Center, 95 Main St., Orono, Maine 04473. Telephone [207) 866-4903.
Typeset by Old Town/Orono Times. Printed by Ellsworth American.

Letter to Passamaquoddys
on newspaper support
I would like to say that 1 am very
disappointed with your refusal to donate
any funds in which to help the Wabana
ki Alliance through these difficult
times. I myself find this paper very in
formative. and enjoy reading it (which
I do from the very first page right
through the last one), and cannot
understand why or how you can refuse
to help .this paper.to. survive.
It is the only way I have in which to
keep informed on the happenings
around there. And for you to use the
measly excuse, “ you receive the paper
late, so that the news is already old to
you,” is unwarranted. You should
take into consideration such people as
m yself that the news in this paper isn’
t
old to. You are su pposed to be acting for

Looks forward
To the editor:
Enclosed please find check for my next
year’s subscription to Wabanaki Alliance.
1 look forward to each issue and have it
read before I get home from work. During
the past 10 months I have becom e a fe-mail
carrier for the Monrovia Post Office.
Marge Hammond Ludecke

M ember — Maine Press Association

P.S. Have you hugged your mailperson
lately?

Steven Cartwright, Editor
Elizabeth S. Warner, Composition
Kathy Cartwright, Composition

A discovery

Reporters
Phone 827-6219
Phone 532-7317

Diane Newell Wilson
Brenda Polchies

^ t e s ’:

W -y

dollars? I submit the request to’w t # ^
the Passamaquoddy Tribal Coluncil to
reconsider your refusal to help fund this
newspaper.
All 1 can say is, Wabanaki Alliance,
keep up the good work, because it is
appreciated by some, if not all.
Frederick L. Thurlow III
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania

The true facts
To the editor:
Please keep my Wabanaki Alliance
newspaper coming! I am a lecturer and
need all the true facts I can get of my
people, for the public.
Calls com e to me from all over the U.S.
and even Canada to speak. Schools, col
leges and organizations o f all kinds. I
even spoke for 31 minutes on the “ Voice of
America” in Washington, D.C.
So I have to know for sure, real facts.
I’ve traveled to many reservations. I’
ve
been to Maine.
My father was a Narragansett and my
mother was a W ampanoag, so we are
eastern natives.
Princess Red Wmg

Newmarket. N. H.
To the editor:
Som eone gave me an old copy o f your
newspaper and I liked it so much that 1
To the editor:
am enclosing $5.00 for one year’s sub
scription.
Enclosed is a piece o f prose I wrote
I have a Penobscot heritage from my
father's family. Our ancestors lived in N.H. today. I would like to have it published in
in the Pem igewasset Valley area and Wabanaki Alliance, if you find it accept
som e descendants are still there. 1am very able. We read your paper with enthusiasm
and are grateful for a link with the reserva
proud o f my Indian blood and I congrat
ulate the tribes of Maine in your recent tions. Our children are very proud to be
successful land settlement. I wish you able to say that we have our own news
continued success in all that you do, and paper. Keep up the go o d work; you are
look forward to receiving the ‘Wabanaki Filling a great need throughout the state
and beyond.
Alliance’from now on.

A great need

DIS Board of Directors
Jean Chavaree 1
chairman)
Donna Coring, Central Maine Indian Assoc.
George Tomer, Consultant
Jeannette Neptune. Community Developm ent Director
Jeannette LaPlante, Central Maine Indian Assoc.
Brenda Polchies

the people, and for you to refuse to
help out people (which is exactly what
you are doing when you refuse this
paper the funds it needs to survive)
as myself who are locked up and away
from home, surely isn ’ h elping us.
t
Being able to read what is happening
gives us a few minutes o f peace to our
selves. Would you refuse a few min-

Indian Island
Old Town
Indian Island
Indian Township
Old Town
Houlton

DIS is an agency of Diocesan Human Relations Services, Inc. of Maine. Sub
scription to this newspaper are available by writing to Wabanaki Alliance. 95
Main St.. Orono, Me. 04473. Diocesan Human Relations Services and DIS are a
non-profit corporation. Contributions are deductible for income tax purposes.
Rates: $5 per year 1 issues); $6 Canada and overseas; $10 for institutions
12
|schools, government, business, etc.)

Jo Anne Merrill Hauschel

Mary K. Wilson (Theresa M. Francis)

Page 4

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Commentary

Overcoming contempt
By Pauline Mitchell

Archie LaCoote

Indian History is not like white man’
s
history, it is not labeled by dates, but by
moons and seasons that turn over and
m erge with the next. W ounded Knee was
not 1890, but the moon when the Indians
were told they no longer existed.
They do exist, half a million o f them, and
existing is, for the majority, living in the
broken jaw o f their lost kingdoms.
The reservations are the homes of a
nation defeated by the United States,
and in this respect Indians have been less
generously treated than either o f the two
other major nations conquered by that
country. Unlike Japan or Germany, no
great sums o f money have been spent on
their rehabilitation. In fact, their situation
worsened after their defeat.
In history, the U.S. government dis
covered that it was cheaper to keep them
on the reservation than try and kill them.
So they were marched into what was
thought to be useless pieces o f land.
The thinking behind the government’
s
actions is that the reservations are in fact
temporary, and that the Indian will even
tually disappear into the American main
stream. It meets with resistance. The
values are getting lost. “ When 1 first got white people who are trying to make us
married back in 1947, I got $1 a day. Then over into their image, they want us to be
I got a raise o f 50 cents. My wife was what they call assimilated, bringing the
pretty thrifty with every penny that I Indians into the mainstream and destroy
earned. O f course, my kids didn’ have a
t
ing our own way o f life and cultural pat
bicycle every year. They didn’ jum p in
t
terns. They believe that we should be
a ear to go someplace like they do now.”
If LaCoote worries about the young, he contented to becom e like those whose
concept of happiness is two cars and a
can keep busy. He has eleven grand
color TV, a very materialistic and greedy
children.
society which is very different from our
Stationed at Dow air base at Bangor in
own.
1946, LaCoote rem em bers taking the
ferry to Indian Island in pre-bridge days.
He worked for Bell Telephone in Sum
mit, N. J., and for a Westbury, Long
Island, N.Y., contractor. “ One morning 1
started work at 8 a.in. and 1 got the urge,
'what am I doing h ere?’ The plane was
leaving at 2 o ’
clock in the afternoon, and
at 3:30 I was in B angor." LaCoote had CEREMONY, by Leslie Marmon Silko
(Viking Press, New York. 1977).
com e home.
LaCoote spent 16 years as Passamaquoddy lieutenant governor, including a
Ceremony is a novel essentially about
term under John Stevens. He was elected
governor, serving prior to Gov. Allen J. the powers inherent in the process o f story
Sockabasin.
telling.
Asked about his views on the land claims
The main character in Ceremony is a
settlement and impending influx o f money, young half-breed Laguna Pueblo Indian
LaCoote said, “ if taken care o f wisely, named Tayo. He had been a prisoner of
it’ good. It all depends on how they use the Japanese during World War II, and the
s
the money.'They’re goin g to have to have
book also focuses on the lives of several
a financial board o f advisors and a finan
young Indian veterans from the Laguna
cial advisor. There’s no financial wizard
Reservation, after their return home.
h ere."
Tayo is hovering between life and death
not only because o f being a prisoner but

Cancer victim, now
well, savors each day
INDIAN TOWNSHIP —
At age 64.
Archie LaCoote. a Passamaquoddy grand
father. grins and is glad to be alive.
Five years ago he was treated for
cancer. “ I had four months left. Each day
that I have now is a gift.” says this veteran
o f World War II and Korea. In 1975,
LaCoote was working for Georgia-Pacific,
and was struck on the head with a railroad
iron by accident. He lost his memory
temporarily.
He has no trouble remembering things
today. “ You know the road onto Dana
Point (part of the reservation)? Archie
LaCoote built that,” he said. The road,
only a trail for years, was constructed in
1938-19.79. In earlier days, Indians canoed
to Peter Dana Point from Princeton village.
LaCoolc's father drove a 1932 Ford Model
“ I.."
LaCoote‘ father was Charles “ Frenchs
ie” LaCoote. who worked at G-P all his
life. His mother was Mary Socoby LaCoote.
“ Look at the change that has taken place,
water and sewer . . .” LaCoote remem
bered. “ People were happy back in those
days.”
LaCoote gazed from the window of the
Tribal Building, once a movie theater, then
a basket co-op. and now tribal government
offices. “ I've seen a lot o f changes here,"
he said: “ building homes, that’ the
s
change. You actually have to see what
went before to understand what we have
now.”
LaCoote first attended school in what is
now a Catholic chapel on the strip section
o f the reservation. After one-room school,
he and only two other Indian classmates
attended Princeton High School, now
closed. LaCoote and David Soctomah
graduated. Albert Dana dropped out.
Archie later took two years o f college under
the G.I. bill.
Was there prejudice back then? “ You
never got invited to (certain) people’s
houses in Princeton,” LaCoote recalled.
But he said “the people arc com ing around
slowly: they’ accepting us."
re
One person who accepted Archie is his
wife o f 35 years, Leona. “ I’ve had three
heart attacks," he said. He lifts weights,
walks, "and I fight with the old lady,”
LaCoote said with a chuckle. Their sons are
Basil. Arnold and Lawrence. Larry was.
adopted after his parents abandoned him
as a babv. He was stiff from the cold and
some people doubted he would recover
when the LaCoolcs took him in.
Asked about traditional Indian ways. La
Coote commented, “ a lot of these people
still have their old ways. It’ this young
s
generation we have to worry about in the
future, or even now." H e said he is con
cerned about drug abuse.
Drinking (alcoholism) is worse today
than years ago. LaCoote warned. Old

When so much has been written about
(he Indians and their way o f life, the con
tinuing deceit of the government, as
expressed by its actions, defies belief.
Once upon a time the Indians were
amused by the white m an’ ways; they had
s
often heard that while people hanged their
criminals by the neck and choked them to
death like dogs. The Indians soon learned
through bitter experience that the ways
o f the white man were som ething other
than amusing.
A different understanding
The white man has to overcom e centu
ries o f contempt in order to learn patience
with these ways, he differs in his under
standing of time and money. He sees the
Indian as incompetent, not only in his
working habits, but in his handling of
money. Where the problem o f alcoholism is
severe, it adds fuel to the white man’
s
contempt.
The Indian today is no better equipped
to withstand the effect o f drink than he was
in the past. There is nothing much in
reservation life that can keep unhappy
people from alcohol. Here the while man
has planted another disease on the wind,
when he defeated the Indians. With all
these influences and confusions, the white
man has tried to change the Indian. But
at heart, this seem s to make an Indian
more aware that being Indian is something
that can’ be taken away.
t
EDITOR’ NOTE — Pauline Mitchell is
S
a resident o f Indian Island, and is em
ployed by Penobscot Nation tribal govern
ment. She is a Navajo.

Book Nook

Census panel elected

also because in a sense he does not want
to survive. He at first, like the fellow
Indian veterans, tries to cure his despair
with alcohol and violence. Eventually he
fights against the easy cure,- searching
for another way. His search leads him to
the old stories and past traditions o f the
Pueblo’ curing ceremony.
s
Ceremony tells o f an Indian family, but
also it deals with despair. The despair
which accounts for violence and alcoholism
which occurs in many Indian communities
today:
Ceremony has been a great experience
lor me, as it will be for many others,
I m su re-

By Cathy Hurd

INDIAN ISLAND — A new Penobscot
tribal census committee has been elected
in a recent vote here.
Out of a slate of 1 candidates, nine
1
winners are to serve on the annual panel,
along with three senior citizens not yet
chosen. But a tie between Clara Jennings
and Neil Phillips, who both garnered 54
votes, may not be resolved until a recount
is held in June.
Clear winners w ere Carolyn Massey, 96
ballots; Rose Francis, 89 votes; Lottie
Stevens. 86; Doreen Bartlett, 84; Rose
Murphy, 82; Jean Chavaree, 74; Eunice
Crowley, 61; S. C. Francis, 59. Burnell
Mitchell was the onlv loser, with 49 votes.

Census prepared
INDIAN TOWNSHIP —
The 1980
Passamaquoddy tribal census has not yet
been officially released here, but census
committee chairman Basil LaCoote said
there are about 380 reservation residents
belonging to the tribe. He said there were
12 births and five marriages during the
past year. About 354 tribal members
live o ff reservation, he said.

JUST A BLUR — Indian Island Recreation Department’ rollerskating hockey teams get
s
into some action. The roller-hockey idea is new to the Island and new to the area, according
to Red Bartlett, recreation director. The kids should be in great shape for ice hockey next
winter, he said.

waDanaki Alliance May 1981

To Gov. J.H. Nicholas

Page 5

Claims complaints
South Portland
Dear Mr. Nicholas.
I understand that the Referendum Vote
was rejected on Thursday. May 14. 1
can t say that I m sorry. I don’ understand
t
why Ihe two Councils should get 15% notwhy 30% should he reinvested since
554 million o f the original settlement was
used for investments.
In the Jan. 4. 1981 Sunday Telegram you
were quoted as saying that you received
a petition with 1 1 signatures requesting
8
the interest money be divided among the
people. At that time you also were quoted
as saying “1 that’ what they want that's
1
s
what they'll ge l.” What has happened to
change this? Also, why aren’ the offt
reservation Indians better informed?
I didn’t receive my newsletter informing
me o f the vote until May 12 yet the letter
was dated May 4. After calling some
Indian people in the Portland area I found
there were many that received no word at
all. others received word after the vote.
I m sure som e off— reservation Indians
would have taken part in the voting had
they been informed sooner, and those
that couldn’t be there should have been
sent absentee ballots. What I am trying to
say is please don’t penalize us for living
o ff the reservation. If we choose not to
live on the reservation that does not mean
we are less Indian; our choice of home
d o e sn ’ change our origin: our hearts
t
will always be with our tribe and our
people.
( ou include us in the count when
Y
applying for any benefits, you included us
in the count when you filed the land
claims suit, yet when it com es to enjoying
the harvest you’ like to forget the offd
reservation Indian exists.

I’d like to call your attention to the fact
that in 1976 there w ere 509 Indians living
on the reservation and there were 682
living off. So when the Land Claims
suit was filed the majority o f our people
w ere living off the reservation. It was only
after the news spread that the people
started moving back, mainly because they
w ere afraid that this was the only way
they would benefit. All o f us can not do
this: though our hearts are with our people
and tribe, our immediate families have to
com e first. W e suffered discrimination
and humiliation in our fight to stay in the
White man s world and we cannot give it
up now, but neither do we intend to give
up our heritage as Passamaquoddy In
dians. Ijoin the 181 people in their request
to have the interest payment divided
am ong the people.
Mary R. (Moore) Smith
The following people wish their names
added to the petition: Robert P. Smith Jr.,
Arlaina M. (Smith) Ryder, G eorge Newell,
Florence White. Barbara Hughes, Ernest
Hughes, Patricia (Hughes) Clement. Ruth
(Hughes) Ivey. Mary (Moore) Murdock,
Linda (Murdock) Marquis, Marion (Mur
dock) Roberts, Joseph Moore. Daniel
M oore. Marie (Thurlow) Munson. Thomas
Thurlow, Fredrick Thurlow, Betty Robin
son. Peter Moore. Peter Moore Jr.,
David Moore. Timothy Moore, Bruce
Moore.. Judith (Neptune) Morton, John
Neptune, Wayne Neptune, Ronald Nep
tune, Kenneth Neptune, Linda Neptune,
Raymond
Neptune,
Anna (Neptune)
Durkee.

Joint council denies paper place on agenda
ORONO — rhe joint Passamaquoddy
tribal council has refused to consider a
funding request from Wabanaki Alliance.
Allen J. Sockabasin. chairman o f the
council that represents Indian Township
and Pleasant Point reservations, told
Wabanaki Alliance that the council has
more important things to consider. He
refused to pul a funding proposal on the

agenda for any upcoming meeting.
Wabanaki Alliance recently received a
grant from Penobscot Nation, but has been
unsuccessful in securing aid from Passamaquoddys. Albert Dana o f Indian Town
ship. chairman of the local tribal council,
did not respond to a letter asking for a
place on his council’s agenda at an upcom
ing meeting.

Joe Socobasin helps young customers at his new store.

Nicknames identify new store
INDIAN TOWNSHIP — Who would be
lieve a new business known as Porky and
Fudd? It s true, and if you grew up here,
you'd know who was who.
Porky is Joseph Socobasin, who does not
deserve the nickname that he attributes to
his Indian family clan sign: the pig. Fudd is
Elmer Lank, and from Elm er’ first name
s
you can s ee where the Fudd com es from.
Socobasin and Lank are partners in a new
grocery’ sandwich and convenience store,
,
also licensed to sell beer and wine.
Absolutely no liquor will be sold after
hours, a sign proclaims. Using a remodeled
old building. Porky and Fudd’ is open
s
seven days per week, from 6 a.m. to about
11 p.m.

to use their medication right, they forget;
or they get to feeling better and quit
taking it altogether, which is the worst
thing they can do, he said.
One of the most abused drugs is Valium
in the Old Town area.
There is a book you can send for, listing
6,000 pills that are com ing off the market
soon, says the FDA. These are pills that
don’t work. You can send $7 to:
P.O. Box 19404
Washington. D.C. 20036

M AIL T O W A B A N A K I ALLIANCE, 95 M A IN ST R E E T , O R O N O . M A IN E 04473

W ABAN AKI A LL IA N CE S U B S C R IP T IO N FO RM
(Make checks payable to Wabanaki Alliance)
I EN CLOSE:
$5 for one year
(Individual— U.S.)

Street ................................................................

$6 for one year
(Canada)
$10 for one year
(Institutional rate)

City/Town and State ............................................. I
I Donation ,Amount)
Zip Code
----1

Joe Socobasin’ brother, Larry, minds
s
the shop. An elegant, accurate old weigh
ing scale was purchased from Arthur
Wheaton of Princeton for $25. Wheaton
owned a general store.
Asked how business was going, Socob.isin said. "I'm keeping my head up. "

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
Owned Homes For Sale
in Washington County

Pharmacist says medicine mis-used
By Diane W ilson
INDIAN ISLAND — Charley King, a
pharmacist in Old Town, was quoted as
saving. "The meals for the senior citizens
is the best thing we could have here,
because so many o f our senior citizens live
alone and don’ like to eat alone. When
t
cooking for just two persons it is hard to
do, so this way they get one go o d balanced
meal and friendship." He also said the
older people age 50 and up don't know how

I always thought about doing this,”
said Socobasin, who with his wife Mary
Ellen have three children, aged 14, 12 and
five. A woodsman, Socobasin said he is
considering renting space in the Legacy
and Savage garage across Route 1 from his
home. The garage went out o f business
recently. " I ’ playing it by ear now,” he
m
said.

Equal Housing
OPPORTUNITY

M ain Street, Baring, M aine
3 bedroom , 2-car ga ra ge — 527,900.00 —
5200.00 D.P.
9 A cadem y Street, Calais, M aine
4 bedroom , ready to m ove into. R ed u ced to
527.500.00 — 5500.00 D.P.

Summer Street, Calais, Maine
4 bedroom , new heating system —
521.900.00 — 5200.00 D.P.

Main Street, Princeton, Maine

4 bed ro o m — attached garage. R edu ced to
526.000.00 - no D.P.
ANYONE CAN BUY
YOU DON’ HAVE TO
T
BE A VETERAN
See Your Local Real
E state Broker Or
Contact

All VA financed
At

p r e v a ilin g in te re s t ra tes

VETERANS. ADMINISTRATION
LOAN GUARANTY DIVISION
TOGUS, MAINE 04330
Tel. 207-623-8411 Ext. 433

Page 6

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Services director assaulted
INDIAN TOWNSHIP— John Stevens is
back on the job as tribal social services
director, with a scar above one eye.
Earlier this year he was beaten up by
two relatives, after he denied services to
them, he said. The two male attackers
first called his office demanding help. He
told them they would first have to qualify
like anyone else, and they used fourletter language over the phone. He hung
up.
The two men came to his office, where
they were again refused. Then, Stevens
alleges, they used brass knuckles to beat
him. He was hospitalized with injuries
received in the assault.

Stevens said he had little chance of
fighting back, with two on one, and the
brass knuckles.
He said the two men faced charges in
tribal court, but that sentences arc too
lenient in the Indian-run court.
Stevens, former tribal governor, has
been in his new job eight months. He was
assaulted after three months on the job,
and said he is now considering leaving
the position. He is a m em ber o f the Passamaquoddy tribal council.
In another incident. Stevens said he
stored $3,000 worth o f Indian jewelry in
his office, from which he was selling it,
only to have the entire amount stolen.

Indians graduate from UNB
FREDERIC! ON, N.B. —
Seventeen
Micmae and Malisect students received
bachelor o f education degrees from the
University o f New Brunswick at the 152nd
Encaenia. May 21. This group of grad
uates constitutes the largest number of
New Brunswick Indian students ever to
graduate from UNB in a single year and
will increase the number o f Indian teachers
in the province.
The graduates are Paula Bcar-Pirie,
Delbert Moulton, Timothy Nicholas,
Mary Perley and Warren Tremblay of
Tobiquc: Margaret (Peggy) Clement.

Freda Levi. Marion Sanipass, Lucy Simon
and Levi Sock, o f Big Cove; Gail Metallic
.and Donna M etallic o f Rcstigouche,
' Quebec: Patricia Sark o f Oromoeto; and
Robert Dale Brooks. Margaret (Cindy)
Gabriel, Irene Mullin, and Christine
Saulis o f Fredericton. The two students
graduating last fall were Robert Atwin of
Kingsclcar and Claudia Simon o f Big Cove.
An additional 72 students were admitted
to the program last September. O f this
group, approximately 60 com pleted the
first year o f study. This class, scheduled
to graduate in 1984, includes students Donna Sanipass
from the Eskasoni Reserve in Nova Scotia.

Cherokee team outshoots Vermillion
In a fiercely battled contest for first
place. Ihe Cherokee Nation Renegades
of lalilcquah. Ok. squ eezed past the
Vermillion. S.D. team in the final 30
seconds of play to claim the National
Indian Activities
Association
Men's
Basketball Championship for 1981 last
week in Tahletjuah.

Island resident 85
INDIAN ISLAND —
Sarah (Sadie)
Kanco. a Penobscot, turned 85 years of
age on April 2. making her the oldest living
m em ber o f the tribe, so far as is known.
She is a member o f the Senior Citizens
group, and lives in her own residence.

CMIA served
594 persons
ORONO —
Central Maine Indian
Association, a statewide social services and
advocacy group, dealt with a total of
594 people in 1980.
A service population report says CMIA
helped 209 Micniacs, 150 Passamaquoddys. 85 Penobscot.s, 69 Maliseets, and 81
individuals with other tribal affiliations.
A total o f 319 family units were helped.
Primarily involved in assisting offreservation Indians. CMIA has also aided
reservation residents seeking jo b s or
basic services. Funding the Orono-based
agency has become increasingly difficult,
and more than one staff m em ber has been
laid off recently.
Among the needs addressed by CMIA
are "advocacy for other services," employment/education, institutional
support,
family support, tribal affiliation verifica
tion, hunting/fishing
licenses,
food,
adoption/foster
care,
wcatherization.
winterization and fuel assistance.
In other CMIA business, Penobscot
Nation has joined the agency in a proposal
submitted to the federal government under
the Indian Child Welfare Act. The federal
Indian Health Service [IHSJ has helped
develop the proposal, as has Harry Rainbolt. eastern regional official of the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs.

From an eight-point lead, the Renegades
watched Vermillion recoup to a tied-up
ballgam e and with less than a minute left
to play, the teams traded fouls and free
shots until (lie clock expired with the
Renegades on topside, 85-83.
' Also claiming trophies were: Third,
Lakola Coup Counters (1976 & 1977
champs) of S.D.; Fourth, Oklahoma
Indians. Concho. Ok.; Fifth. X-Haskell.

Native gathering set
this fall in Geneva

Micmac artist takes
break from studies

MAPLETON — Homd sw eet home is
how Donna Sanipass, 25, feels about
returning to her family here, after
studying at Institute of American Indian
Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I came back here to get away. No cares
or responsibilities; it feels so peaceful
here, she said. With her is son, Max
Romero, who will be' one year old this
month, she is taking a needed break.
She enjoyed Santa Fe. where another
Maine Indian, Passamaquoddy Brenda
Murphy from Pleasant Point, was also
enrolled. Besides studying painting and
museum theory, she played volleyball and
softball. Now she is interested in child
protective services.
While in Santa Fe, Sanipass got to know
the Laguna-Taos Puebld Indians. “They’
re
really strict.. When I went in there they

WASHINGTON —
An international
conference on Indigenous People and the
Land is scheduled for mid-September,
1981, in Geneva, Switzerland. The con
ference, sponsored by the NGO Sub
com m ittee on Racism, Racial Discrimina
tion, Apartheid and Decolonization, is
planned as a follow-up to the 1977 Inter
national Conference on Discrimination
Against Indigenous Populations in the
Americas, which was held at the United
Nations building in Geneva. Entitled
"International NGO Conference on Indi
genous Peoples and the Land," the
BOSTON — The Penobscot Nation has
conference will be held September 14-17, been selected to host a New England-wide
1981. The planning committee anticipates Indian conference. May 5, on federalthat approximately 150 to 200 indigenous tribal relations in terms o f grants and
delegates.
NGO
representatives and services.
interested persons will be invited to attend.
The federally sponsored workshop will
take place at a Methodist Church building
in Washington, D.C. Am ong issues on the
agenda are housing, education, health and
human services, econom ic development,
The director o f TGl's Film Project federal recognition, legal services, food
announced recently that the title "W e and nutrition.
Agencies involved include CETA, Ad
Are Still Here!" has been changed to "W e
ministration for Native Americans and
Are Still Editing!”
Community Services Administration. The
Actually, the film is very near com ple
afternoon o f presentations has been
tion. Director Jay Kent said. Final lab
organized by Barbara Namias. coordinator
processes will add a month to the release o f the Indian Task Force in Boston, a
date, but the film will be ready for review federal group to aid in funding New
by Indian advisors within a couple of England Indians.
weeks.
Jam es Sappier o f Indian Island, a
The Film Project is very anxious to hear Penobscot and co-chairman o f the task
from groups and individuals interested in force, will present a regional overview at
screening the film, especially outside of the "issu es workshop."
Maine. For information, contact Jay
Indian groups involved, in addition to
Kent, c/o Tribal Governors, Inc., 93 Main Penobscots. are the Mashantucket Pequot
Street, Orono. Me. 04473. or call (207) o f Connecticut; New Hampshire Indian
866-5526.
Council; Boston Indian Council; Passama-

w ere really upset," she recalled, on
visiting a Pueblo ceremonial event. “They
came over to me ... they w ould’ thrown
ve
me out if I wasn't Indian." I
In Santa Fe, she m et K en Romero,
father of her child. He is staying out west.
Sanipass rem em bers that as a child, “I
did a lot of harvesting (potatoes and blue
berries), making money for school and
clothing, and half for m y mom.”
She was called “n igger” in school, in
Mapleton. “My dad would say fight back.
I’ the kind who would turn the other
m
cheek.” Sanipass even reached the point
where she “hated every white man.” She
ran away from home, to Portland, but
returned soon after.
Sanipass’ father Don is from Big Cove,
New Brunswick, and her m other is from
Shubenachadie, Nova Scotia.

Penobscots to host workshop

Take me to the movie

quoddy Tribe; Abenaki Self-Help Associa
tion; Wampanoag Tribal Council o f Gay
Head. Massachusetts; Central Maine
Indian Association of Orono; Connecticut
Indian Affairs Council; Rhode Island
Indian Council; and Narragansett Tribe
o f Rhode Island.

Poets due in Portland
PORTLAND —
Tw o Indian Island
residents will discuss "talking sticks”
and wampum belts, am ong other things,
at a one day course called "con cep ts of
speaking.”
Isabelle Shay, Micmac, and Carol Dana,
Penobscot, both poets, will present the
program June 14, from 10 a.m. to 2:30
p.m., at Shaler School, North Street.
The program is sponsored by Feminist
College, a group offering "an education
that encourages cooperative study and
problem-solving, reflects the resources of
all learners, relates survival issues and
global concerns, envisions a just and
humane future."

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Page 7

Micmacs accept $1.2 million
NYANZA, Nova Scotia —
Micmac
Indians recently voted narrowly to approve
a land claims settlement o f $1.2 million,
in exchange for 3.500 acres o f highlyvalued shore frontage.
The land lost by the tribe borders the
famed Bras d ’ Lake in Cape Breton, an
Or

Court wants ruling
on Mohegan claim
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Sup.• erne
Court has asked the Justice Department for
its views on a matter that could affect
Indian claims to millions o f acres o f land in
the Eastern United States. According to
an Associated Press report, the Court
Dougall o f Indian Island, and William D. will wait until it hears from the Justice
M cDougall o f Bridgeport, Connecticut. Department before considering Connecti
s
Dean is the son o f R ebecca and Daniel cu t’ effort to avoid having to defend itself
Francis o f Pleasant Point. The ceremony from the Mohegan Indian Tribe’s claim to
was performed by Virgie Johnson, retired 2,500 acres o f land under the 1790 Indian
area agent for the state Department of Non-intercourse Act. The state claims
Indian Affairs. A w edding cake was baked that the Act applies only to land located in
by Grace Bailey o f Pleasant Point. Janice "Indian Country,” then the western
has one son. Domekin Attcan McDougall.
frontier. The state lawyers also contend
Dean Francis is currently in the U. S.
that even if the 1790 Act applies to eastern
Army, stationed in Kaiserslautern, Ger
states, the Connecticut land involved
many. His wife will join him there.
should be exempt under a'separate law
dealing with Indian-owned lands surround
ed by non-Indian settlements. The U.S.
District Court refused to dism iss the suit
as requested by the state and this ruling
For those readers that did not know the- was upheld by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court
identity o f two smiling persons in a front o f Appeals.
page photo in last m onth’ Wabanaki
s
Alliance, here is the information.
At left is Sister Claire, a Catholic Sister
of Mercy who has worked at Indian Town
ship. and now is stationed at Indian
WASHINGTON —
Interior Secretary
Jam es Watt has not made a final decision
Island. Beside her is Fawn LaDonna Nep
s
tune, five-year-old daughter o f Timothy on whether to move B lA ’ Institute of
Neptune [ShayJ. Fawn’ mother is an American Indian Arts (IAIA) at Santa Fe,
s
Alaskan native. Fawn is currently living New Mexico to a new site.
with Jim and Bonnie Sappier at Indian
Newspapers in Santa Fe and Albu
Island.
querque had announced that the school
would be moved and the campus facilities
used for an All Pueblo Indian high school.
The stories announcing the change were

Bride and groom, Janice and Doan Francis, are flanked nl wedding ceremony by best man
Leonard Francis, and maid o f honor Teri McDougall.

McDougall-Francis
PLEASANT POINT — Janice McDougall
o f Indian Island becam e the bride o f Dean
Francis o f Pleasant Point. Wednesday.
April 22, at the hom e o f the groom's
parents.
Janice is the daughter o f Rene Me-

Ball club starts
INDIAN TOWNSHIP — David Sockabasin, a player anyone would want on his
team, is organizing two reservation
baseball teams this season, and in another
corner, a women's softball team is getting
off the ground. David will b e fortunate
if his famed ball-playing brothers —
Raphael, Clayton, and Patrick — join up.
Contact David for m ore information on
what could be a couple o f crack teams.

Thot mutual feeling

island connected by causeway to Nova
Scotia mainland. The settlement marks
the final round o f a decade o f negotiations
bv the W agm atcook Indian Band and the
government Office o f Native Claims.
Most o f the money will be used by the
band to buy land, and start economic
development, according to Chief Benedict
Pierro. Pierro said he is satisfied with the
settlement, especially in view o f the
initial government offer o f $280,000.
This isn’ the end o f the W agmatcooks’
t
efforts to bring claims. Pierro said the next
step is to proceed against the provincial
government.

Hawaiians may
bring land claim
HAWAII — Native Hawaiians may set
forth a land claim for at least 200.000
acres, according to Joe Kcaloha. spokes
man for Office o f Hawaiian Affairs.
In the late 1800s, native government was
overthrown by whites, and no land was
returned to the original people, despite
urgings o f President Grover Cleveland.
Later, when Hawaii was annexed to the
U.S., a Hawaiian H om es Act provided
200,000 acres for natives. Kcaloha said in a
telephone conversation. However, that
land was taken from the natives when
Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959.
Kcaloha said he was interested in how
Penobscots and Passam aquoddys success
fully negotiated their $81.5 million settle
ment. which includes purchase of 300,000
acres.

Watt won't say what on art school

Wickeegan to
feature claims

Secord graduates
PORI LAND — Theresa K. Secord. 23.
of Portland graduated April 25. from the
University of Southern Maine, with a
degree in earth science and geology.
Secord. the daughter of Lawrence and
Marv Secord and a Penobscot, was award
ed a special minority scholarship to pursue
her PhD in geology at University o f Wis
consin at Madison, where she has been
accepted.
She is a graduate o f South Portland High
School, and outside interests include
caving and canoeing.

Indian research explored
WASHINGTON —
A symposium on
American Indian research will be held at
National Archives building, Washington,
July 27-31. 1981.
Designed for researchers with interests
ranging from tribal history and genealogy
to demography and social history, this
symposium will explore the wide variety
of records, and sources for American
Indian research. The sym posium will
focus on use o f state, federal, and prefcdcral sources with em phasis on method
ology.

reported to be based on statements by
m em bers of the New M exico Congressional
delegation after a breakfast meeting with
W att on April I.
Watt’ statement acknowledged that
s
the plan to tuni the campus over to the
Pueblo Council for its high school had
merit but stressed that there is “ no firm
proposal and a final decision has not
been made.

ORONO — The next airing of the public
television Indian program, Wickeegan,
will feature the Maine Indian land claims
and related issues.
Sponsored by Maine Public Broad
casting Network [MPBN|, the show is
hosted and produced by Kim Mitchell,
a Penobscot. The show is set for
June 15, at 7:30p.m.

Indian bank featured
WASHINGTON —
A recent feature
story in the Washington Post described
the American Indian National Bank as
" o n e o f the most successful minority
financial institution ventures in the United
States today.”
Citing the bank as “ one of the more
a ggressive institutions in the D.C. area,”
the Post noted that the Indian bank’
s
deposits rose by 39 percent in the past
year, when the average increase for
bank deposits was only about 9 percent.
In 1980. the Indian bank's earnings
w ent from 5421,541 to $457,957.

Indians in cultural event
FORT KENT — Two Maine Indians
were scheduled to participate in a three
day ethnic meeting here. May 1-3.
Francis Sapiel o f Indian Island, and Gary
Ennis o f Caribou, planned to attend TriState Multi-Cultural Conference, a concept
begun three years ago. The conference
will take place at University o f Maine at
Fort Kent.

Rosalie retires
After six years of service, Rosalie Clark of Indian Island retired this month from Wabanaki
Corporation, an intertribal alcoholism agency based in Orono. One of the original
counselors, she worked with clients both on and off reservation. She was feted by fellow
workers, including Indian Township counselor Bernard Stvens, above.

Mohawk traditionalists want total sovereignty
RONO — About 70 people, half of
Indians, listened as two spokesmen
the Mohawk traditionalist movement
ined gloomy prospects,
he University o f Maine Distinguished
ure topic was "H osta ges in our midst;
ys struggle for sovereignty among
’
ve Americans." But the struggle is
and hard, and the su ccesses small,
jjuest speakers said,
ike Meyers, editor o f the traditionalist
spaper Akwesasnc Notes, appeared
auraged that people such as indivis in the audience were unable to help
traditionals —
som etim es called
:als by their detractors — achieve
•goals.
evers and fellow Mohawk Earl Cross
e it clear their goals include total
reignty for the Mohawk Nation, and
1cement of the elective tribal govem. system, with the original, hereditary
•m administered by elders o f the
. I he elective system was imposed by
society earlier in this century. In
raditional system, male leaders are
’n by women (Mohawks were a
iarchal society in (he past).
’.vers and Cross argue for a separate
n nation, apart from U.S. govem1
1

t until the lecture itself, held last
h on campus, did sponsors know who
coming to represent the Mohawk
m. The sponsors w ere Distinguished
ire Scries. Maine Peace Action Comc and The Honors Center at UMO.
potluck Indian social took place the
evening, on Indian Island, for the
twk guests.
e speakers addressed broad general sovereign rights, environmental isand traditional culture, in view of
present role o f suppression and exition by the U.S. government."
government is trying to get rid of
ns by denying them rights, the
ccr.s said.
v its
accused the federal Indian
h Service [IHS| and Bureau o f Indian
‘ |BIA| of plotting to terminate
S
n ways and Indian tribal existence.

Poetry
It’ a D og’s Life
s
TOR’ NOTE: This poem is written
S
morv of "L ady" o f Indian Island;
mis the least 1could do ," the author
ifter 1 years of canine companion
6

's bad as it can be,
ard on a dog like me.
nc legs are so damn frail,
nd stumble down a dusty trail.
day don’ feel so good,
t
each fleas like I should,
md worms are irritation,
•is such an aggravation.
o leave my home-sweet-home,
Spirit beckons where buffalo roam,
mil's down on bended knee,
s wel, she prays for me.
rc howling all about,
ourn and cry and even shout.
'ig powwow for a friend,
icy love until the end.
aised some hell and that’ no lie
s
me sleep before I die.
is more merciful that way.
V . my friends. I’m going away.
'C
"P. J." Becker

Drug law
(Continued from page 1 )

Neil Phillips. Penobscot tribal member,
stood up from the audience and declared
the Maine Indian land claim s settlement of
1980 has cheated Indian people of their
rights. He said he wanted to bring suit to
halt
the
Pcnobscot-Passamaquoddy
settlement, already ratified by Congress.
Phillips accused M eyers and his tradi
tionalists o f relusing to help traditional
Pcnobscots in their time o f need.
Meyers said Pcnobscots did not follow
proper procedure, and a special request
for help would have to be approved
through appropriate channels.
M eyers said concerned individuals,
such as members of the audience, were not
big enough to help the traditionalist
cause. He said " fa m ilies" could help, as
could organizations such as Goddard
C ollege in Vermont, and The Farm, a
communal business-living venture in
Tennessee.
M eyers said he believes in a "dialogu e"

between spirit and the earth but did not say
how traditional Indians could co-exist with
outside society.
Cross discussed Indian Way School, a
so-called “ survival sch o o l" where Mohawk
traditions and language are taught. He
explained that instead o f using biased,
printed textbooks, students build their
own books with looseleaf binders, adding
pages of knowledge as they learn.
Cross claims the Mohawk Indian dropout
rate in public schools was its high as 80
percent, but is less than- two percent in
the Indian Way School. Classes are com
posed of 15-15 pupils. O f those applying to
colleges, 100 percent were accepted. Cross
said.
Cross called the school part of "a
revolution to get rid o f a system that
produces non-natives from native people."
Later he said. " I hear in the paper that
Indians are getting all kinds o f land back.
It isn ’t that way."

barbituafes. Marijuana is a civil offense
with possession o f one and onc-half
ounces or less. With m ore than that
amount, the offense becom es a Class D
crime, and is handled in state courts.
Prior to the land claim s settlement,
there was a period when drug cases would
have been handled in federal courts. Now.
tribal and state courts handle most of
fenses.
The new drug ordinance states:
"A ny non-member convicted o f sale,
possession, or providing of scheduled
drugs as described in Tribal Law, Title
17 and 17A, shall be banished from the
lands o f the Penobscot Nation for life.
"Any adult member o f the Penobscot
Nation convicted o f sale, o f providing
scheduled drugs as described in Tribal
Law, Title 17 and 17A, shall forfeit all
rights as a member for ninety (90) days
including banishment for that period from
tribal lands for the first offense, six (6
)
months loss o f all rights including banish
ment from tribal lands for that period for a
second offense, and permanent loss of
rights and permanent banishment from
tribal lands for life for the third offense
on Penobscot Territory.
“ Any member who assists in the arrest
or conviction of any person/persons
selling scheduled drugs be rewarded
$500.00.”

Sioux seek to block
Black Hills payoff

Getting good marks
Dennis Tomnh, Young Adult Conservation Corps [YACC] director at Indian Township
shows his pleasure at a favorable review from federal evaluation team m em bers
Deborah Harstedt and Jam es Gregg. The YACC program s here, and at Indian Island,
have experienced severe cutbacks in funding, in recent months.

Micmac-Maliseet program to serve
Indian, non-Indian teachers
FREDERICTON. N.B. — A MicmacMaliseet educational development institute
is in the works at University o f New Bruns
wick, with a $150,000 grant from a Cana
dian foundation.
The purpose o f the institute is to famil
iarize M icmac and Maliseet teachers and
other educators with instructional and
curriculum developm ent resources and
processes with particular reference to the
needs o f native Indian children in the
school system ; and to train and otherwise
educate teachers and others to assume
leadership roles in curriculum develop
ment in the future.
Specifically, the institute will create a
Micmac-Maliseet curriculum resources
center; initiate m eetings and conferences
pertinent to Miemac-Maliscet education;
conduct a program o f practical research
with an aim to capitalizing upon parallel
work done elsewhere in Canada and the
United States; investigate the place of
native languages in the curriculum through
the assem bling o f data and the bringing
together of existing scholarly expertise
on the M icmac-Maliseet tongues; produce
printed curriculum materials; and provide
an educational information service to

native bands, school committees and
individuals.
The institute will serve primarily the
native teachers and non-native teachers of
native children at reserves in New Bruns
wick, Cape Breton and the Gaspe penin
sula in Quebec, as well as native teachers
in provincial sch ools attended by native
children.
The institute and its staff will be as
sociated with the special Indian studies
program now functioning as part o f UNB’
s
faculty o f education.

INDIANPLCRAFT
SU P
IE S
c d e c

148 Page
Catalog

The world's largest
Indian Crafts Catalog.
Mora than 4,000 Items
to choose from I

For tree catalog,

Trade Beads, fin Cones,
Brass Beads. Moire Taffeta
Ribbon, Ermine Skins.
Bone Elk Teeth. Shawl
Fringe and 'fern.

4REYOWL ,

113-15 Springfield Blvd.
Queens Village, N.Y. 11429

Despite a U.5. suprem e court decision,
members or the Oglala Sioux Tribe of
South Dakota are seeking to block the
federal government from paying them and
other Sioux $105 million for land taken in
1877.
Lawyers for the Indians told the U.S.
circuit court o f appeals they want land
rather than money.
In addition the Indians are seeking
$1 billion in trespass dam ages and $10
billion for mineral resources removed from
the area. On June 30. 1980, the supreme
court ordered the government to pay the
Sioux $17.1 million plus interest since 1877
(a total o f about $105 million) for the 7.3
million acres taken.

C A N T FIND A JOB?

Try the
JOB CORPS
Would you like to be trained as a ...
Bookkeeper
Secretary/Stenographer
Clerk Typist
Nursing Assistant
If you are 16 to 21 and not in school,
the Penobscot Job Corps Center has
training programs which may be of
interest to you.
The Penobscot Job Corps Center
provides all trainees with a -place to
live, meals, health care and a cash
monthly stipend while you learn. And
when you finish, we'll also help you
find a job.
SOUND GOOD?
IT IS GOOD.
ASK FOR JOB CORPS
— in the Portland area— 775-7225
— in the Auburn area— 786-4190
— in the Bangor area— 947-0755
— or Loll free anywhere in Maine
at 1-800-432-7307
ASK FOR
JOB CORPS RECRUITM ENT

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Poetry
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following three
poem s were written by pupils at Indian
Township Elementary School, who arc
enrolled in Maine Migrant Education.
Their teacher is migrant tutor Allen
Doherty.

0,n A Hot Summer
At the lake
On a hot, sunny day.
When the sun has just com e up,
I hear the trees swaying back and forth.
I see the water and children swimming.
I enjoy going in a canoe and
paddling along the shoreline.
1will feel like I’ lived there
ve
All summer.
Dorothy Newell
Grade 6
A Favorite Place

Aroostook serenity
Aroostook potato field plowed for planting, with a light dusting o f snow. [Photo bv Donald
Sanipass]

Seven graduate from UMO
ORONO — Four Indian students gradu
ated this month at the Orono campus, and
three more Indians graduated from Bangor
Community College this spring.
According to Theodore (Ted) Mitchell,
counselor to Indian students and an assist
ant dean at UMO, lour to five more Indian
students will graduate in December.
Earning highest distinction in elementary
education at Orono was Linda A. Stewart
Phillips o f Dover-Foxcroft. Penobscot and
wife o f Reuben Phillips, tribal representa
tive to the state legislature.
Also graduating with degrees in ele
mentary education at UMO were Penobseols Janice Attean McDougall and James

Horatio Sanborn III. McDougall lives on
Indian Island. Sanborn in Bangor.
Donna Levesque, an Indian from Fort
Fairfield, graduated at Orono with a degree
in food and nutrition.
At BCC, Calvin Nicholas, a Passamaquoddy, graduated with an associate degree
in human services, as did Grace Colburn, an
Alaskan Eskimo.
David Nelson, Penobscot from Indian
Island, graduated from BCC with an
associate degree in liberal studies.
Recently, Joe Marshall and Alec Denny of
Eskasoni Micmac Reserve in Cape Breton,
Nova Scotia, visited the Orono campus.
They said they were interested in a U.S.
college, Mitchell said.

Micmac second in Marathon
By Cathy Hurd
BOSTON — Patti Lyons Catalano, a
Micmac runner and queen o f U.S. women
distance runners, was second in the
wom en’ division o f the Boston Marathon,
s
held recently.
Her time was two hours, twenty-seven
minutes, and fiftyon c seconds. The
distance o f the race was twenty-six miles,
three hundred eighty-five yards. New
Zealand's Allison Roe cam e in first with a
lime of two hours, twenty-six minutes,
forty-five seconds.
Catalano comes from a fatherless

family of nine. Her mother is from Nova
Scotia. They live in Quincy. Mass.
Catalano had to repeatedly explain to
reporters why she finished second for the
third straight year: ‘‘I did everything I
wanted to except win. I didn’ do anything
t
wrong. She [Allison Roe] just outran me,
that’ all,” said Boston’s best known
s
runner, who says she will return another
year.
In comparison to M aine’ Joan Benoit:
s
Benoit says things are “ interesting.”
Catalano says things are “ wicked.”
Benoit came in third with a time o f two
hours, thirty minutes, and fifteen seconds.

Evidence of early white trading post
UNITY — Whites may have settled near
Indians earlier than has been thought,
according to archaeologist Ted Bradstreet.
Bradstreel. writing for the Maine
Archaeological Society Bulletin, said his
students from Unity C ollege unearthed
evidence that the Pilgrims o f Plymouth,
Mass., had a trading post 22 m iles up the
Kennebec River before they were driven
out by Indians in the 17th century.
He said resulting disputes over land
titles produced various historical claims,
‘‘
and the real history got lost.”

I like to walk in the woods,
On a cool and sunny day.
Very early in the morning.
I hear the sounds o f chirping
Birds and moving brush.
I can hear deer and m oose in
the sparkling stream, while 1am hunting.
I would like to go back in a week.
W here I am very happy.
Dickie Sabattus
Grade 8
Visiting the Beach
Up the beach,
When summer comes.
About noon,
1hear water splashing on the rocks,
And I hear squirrels talking back and
forth.
I like to go swimming.
And I'll go back next year,
When I'll feel happy again.
Laura Sockabasin
Grade 6

Untitled
Rem em ber days
at the Linkview
You learned about
me. I learned
about you.
shared each other's dreams
shared each other’ love.
s
Summer walks
evening talks
to Cascade Park
watching Buzby
grow and play.
Evening talks of better
days.
Yes, you gave
me love,
gave me a home
Then left me
all alone.
C. M. Abumadi

Skitikuk « J » Outfitters

Bradstreet, a resource conservation
archaeologist for the Maine Historic
Preservation Com m ission, said recently,
histories indicated there may have been
Specialists in wilderness travel.
several Pilgrim outposts on the lower
Sales - Rentals - Guide Service
K ennebec River. But their locations were
difficult to pinpoint becau se English set
tlers were driven out by Indians in 1676.
H om e of Igas Island custom-made
“ This site is exciting because it’ all
s
packs and equipment
new stuff." he said. “ We were able to
show there was som eone there in the
38 Main St.
O ro n o
866-4878
1600s.”

Page 9

Basketball tourney
held in Boston
BOSTON — Eight teams played in a
recent basketball tournament, involving six
men’ teams, plus two women's teams.
s
Mashpee won the championship and
Peter Dana Point was runner-up, with
Harvard coming in third.
Other teams in the tournament were
Boston Indian Council, Native American
Program — Dartmouth. Brockton Indian
Center and the women’ teams. The ladies
s
o f the Pcnobscots won two games over a
strong B.I.C. ladies team. All games were
well played and the most valuable player
award went to Tom Maddox o f Mashpee
and the most valuable player award for the
ladies went to Cindy Akins Francis. The
sportsmanship award went to Jason Leves
que o f Peter Dana Point and the All Star
team o f the tournament went to Guy Wayne,
Jr. Pehrson o f Harvard. Calvin Nicholas of
Peter Dana Point. Mark Chevariec, Dart
mouth, Tom Maddox and Allan Maxim of
Mashpee.
The games were sponsored by Boston
Indian Council, assisted by Steve Smith.
Dennis Catering Service.
Credit for organizing the event goes to
Sam Sapid, a Penobscot who heads recrea
tion at Boston Indian Council. He helped
found the Eastern Indians Activity Associa
tion.

A/litchell case pending
BANGOR — A $350,000 suit against
Wabanaki Corporation o f Orono is still
pending, a court clerk reports.
The suit, brought to court one year ago
by former corporation head George M.
Mitchell, asks for dam ages following
firing o f Mitchell as director.
Last March, Superior Court Judge
Jessie B riggs dism issed several parts of
M itchell’ original complaint, but fell
s
short o f dism issing [or filing] the entire
suit.
It was not immediately known what the
next step would be.

Crow fribe seeks hearing
WASHINGTON — The Crow Tribe is
seeking reconsideration by the U.S.
Suprem e Court of its March 24 ruling that
the portion o f the Bighorn River flowing
through the Crow Reservation belongs to
the State o f Montana and not the tribe.
According to a report in the Billings
Gazette, Tribal Chairman Forest Horn has
form ed a special com m ittee to petition the
high court for a rehearing o f the case.
The Supreme Court will consider peti
tions submitted within 25 days after a
ruling. The Crows did not indicate what
would be the grounds for their petition.

HARDWARE
& GUN SHOP
TOM VICA1RE, Proprietor
The only Indian-owned hardware
business in the State o f Maine
‘‘W e’re eager to do business with people
in the Indian community." says Tom.
The store carries a full line of tools,
electrical and plumbing supplies, paint
and housewares. Also, a selection o f fine
new and used guns.
See Our Garden Supplies and Tools
For all your hardware and
hunting needs, visit —
MATT AW AMKEAG HARDWARE &
GUN SHOP
and sample some good Indian hospitality
and service.

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Page 10

Tribal census important
(Continued from page 1)
L. Tomer and Anita M. Tomer.
Twelve deaths occurred in 1980. and
three in 1979 not ‘
previously reported.
Last year, these persons passed on:
Louis Bernard, Harry (Tony) Francis Jr.,
Ronald (Senabeh) Francis. Cynthia Knight.
John M. Mitchell Sr.. Mary L. Paul, Willis
R. Pearl Jr., Wilfred R. Pehrson, Delia M.
Ranco, Patrick J. Shay. Catherine M.
Tomer and James L. Tomer.
In 1979, Edna Murphy, David T. Rush
and Mary Spelkcr died.
Abandoned tribe
These persons “ aban doned" the tribe,
and arc no longer regular tribal members:
Mary N. Sapid. Clarice M. Sapid, James
Sapiel. Flora M. Sapid. Joseph M. Sapid.
Sapid. Flora M. Sapiel. Joseph M. Sapiel.
Veronica A. Sapiel and Edgar Tomer.
A total of 81 non-Indians live on Indian
Island, all hut a lew o f whom are attached
bv marriage to an Indian person.
Among non-Indians are school principal

Sr. Helen McKeough. Sisters o f Mercy
Florence, Theresa, and Claire DeRoche,
and the Rev. John Civicllo. Mary Warren
is the only apparently unattached nonIndian listed who is not part of the religious
group.
The Pcnobscots two years ago passed
an ordinance for removal o f unattached
non-Indians on the reservation.
Among non-Pcnobscot Indians re
presented on Indian Island are Athabas
can, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, Navajo,
M aliseet and Chippewa.
Listed as “other persons of Indian
d escen t” who are residents of Indian
Island are Gwenuhwct Dana, Jo Dana,
Mynah Dana. Winona Lola. Derek Francis.
Brock A. Jenkins, Laurence and Jeremia
Goodall, Michael LaCasse, Shana L.
Nelson and Joshua Vermette.
One recent developm ent among tribal
mem bers is the use o f authentic Indian
names, as in above paragraph, and in
listings o f new births.

New Indian population
figures more accurate
BOSTON — Maine Indians have long
claimed official estimates are well below
actual Indian population.
Now. as findings o f the 1980 U.S. Census
emerge, it appears new figures are going
lo be significantly higher than old ones —
in fact, arc going to be close to unofficial
surveys some Indian grou ps cited in the
past.
That is what the Maine advisory' commit
tee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
has found by comparing recently an
nounced 1980 U.S. Census data to various
old estimates. "The 1980 Census figure is
85 percent higher than the 1970 one,”
says acting chairperson Lois Reckitt,
“ Either there has been an astonishing
growth rate, or the 1970 Census missed
many of Maine’ Indians."
s
The 1980 U.S. C ensu s recorded 4,087
Indians in Maine. The Census Bureau
cautions that this information may still be
adjusted following court decisions in
cases where undercounts are alleged.
"That litigation docs not appear likely to
affect the count o f M aine’s Indians."
Reckitt said.
Indian groups have criticized previous
surveys by both State and Federal govern
ments. For example, the 1970 U.S. Census
total of 2,195 Indians and the 1971 Maine
Indian Census total o f 2.254 Indians

INDIAN POPULATION OF MAINE

Amlroscouuin
Aroostook
Cumberland
Franklin
Ha mock
Kennebec
Knox
Lincoln
Oxford
Penobscot
Piscataquis
Sagadahoc
Somerset
W aldo
Washington
York
"“Includes military personnel

contrast sharply with (he count derived
five years later by Indian groups (in
conjunction with the State Planning Office)
in a door-to-door survey. That survey
identified 4.450 persons with at least onequarter Indian blood.
The 1980 U.S. Census count of 4,087
Indians severely calls into question not
only, the earlier counts but also the relia
bility o f 1981 projections published by the
M aine Department o f M anpower Affairs,
figures which appear to underlie policy and
program thinking at present. The Depart
ment's projection (in column two of the
attached table) actually reduces to an
estim ate o f only about 2.000 Indians, for
the 3.159 aggregate includes AsianAmericans, Filipinos, and military per
sonnel. The 1980 U.S. Census figure, on
the other hand, certainly represents an
undercount, although to be sure in tar
sm aller degree than in 1970.
The Advisory Com m ittee has submitted
its interpretation of the new Census in
formation to the Maine Legislature's Joint
Com m ittee on Appropriations and Finan
cial Affairs. State Senator Mary Najarian
had requested background information for
the
Joint Com m ittee’s
deliberations
regarding funding for an Off-Reservation
Indian Affairs Office in Houlton.
Penobscot tribal m em ber Andrew- X.
Akins serves on the Maine advisory
com mittec.

The family of Irene McDougall poses with the poster they hung on her house, during a
reception for the UMO graduate at Indian Island.

Grandmother graduates
with family's support
INDIAN ISLAND —
What’ your
s
future like if you have an eighth grade
education, you are 33 years old, and a
single parent?
If you are Janice (Rene) McDougall,
your future looks great. Now 37. Mrs. Mc
Dougall graduated this month from the
University of Maine at Orono. majoring in
elementary education, with a concentration
in math, and two years o f Spanish.
She smiled with a quiet pride after
commencement, as her family threw a
happy reception for her at her Indian
Island home. She said she is planning on
graduate study.
W as it hard being older; older in fact
than som e teachers? N otjtt all, she said.
“ I was surprised, because at first I felt
I might be different.”
“ 1got a lot of support from tr.y family.”
Mrs. McDougall. who has two grand
children, said. A Penobscot native of
Indian Island, she graduated from Old
Town Junior High School and then moved
to New York, and later Connecticut, where
the father o f her five children, William D.
McDougall, now resides.
Only one son. Philip, a surveyor in New

Mexico, could not be present for the
celebration. Attending w ere sons Billy
and Scottie. and daughters Janice and
Teri. Also enjoying the party were grand
children Seneca and Domekin.
Mrs. McDougall had no idea she could
attend college until discovering the On
ward remedial summer program. While in
Connecticut, she had obtained a high
school equivalency degree, and combined
with Onward, she was able to becom e a
full time day student at UMO.
The financial part was the hardest,
she said, but tuition waiver for Indian
students helped a lot. Life hasn't been a
picnic for Rcnc McDougall: “ I had two
back operations, and I was wondering what
to do with the rest o f my life. During that
first year [of college] I was sick a lot. I
got down at tim es but not to the point
where I thought about quitting.”
One of the highlights o f her college ex
perience was three w eeks spent at Keswick
C ollege in Norwich, England, as part of
her studies.
Anyone contemplating “ going back to
school.” at any age, would do well to talk
to Rene McDougall.

Non- Indians
Indians
1970
1980 White
U.S.
U.S. (except
Census
black) Census
1981
jStaJe
Projection
11
8
636
340
35
73
202
72
25
50
1.034
53
47
97
28
1.028
237

104
707*
415*
7
35
115
35
1
1
27
748
24
11
0
67
2
1
673
298*

51
436
148
1
1
36
9
1
23
10
17
538
28
1
3
43
23
630
97

4.087

3.159*

2.195

AT MAXINE’S — Young customers delight in homemade pies, doughnuts and other good
things to eat, at Maxine Tomah’ [standing, right] diner and take-out service at Peter Dana
s
Point, Indian Township.

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Page 1
1

Passamaquoddy Tribe
rejects claims plan
PLEASANT POINT — A land claims
interest plan similar to one approved by
P cnobscots was rejected bv both
branches o f the Passamaquoddy Tribe.
Hie vote this month at Pleasant Point,
and Indian Township, emphatically shot
down a proposal to reinvest 30 percent of
interest earned, and divide 70 per cent o f
interest on a per capita basis. The
interest has accumulated on the $81.5
million Penobscot-Passamaquoddy land
claims settlement, approved by Congress
last fall.
Although Pcnobscots favored a rein
vestment plan. Passaniaquoddys ap
parently want more individually dis
tributed money. “They want 100 per
cent," said Pleasant Point Gov. J.
Hartley Nicholas, contacted at his tribal
office.

Nicholas said this is not realistic. He
said the tirbe needs funds to operate such
things as garbage removal and the
sewerage treatment system.
At Pleasant Point. 100 tribal members
voted in favor o f the recent plan for
dividing up interest income, and 125
voted against it. The margin o f defeat
was much greater at Indian Township,
where 180 voted against. 15 for the
measure.
Nicholas said “ major bills" owed by
the tribe total $253,000.
I he next step, Governor Nicholas said,
will be to outline a budget for tribal
expenses, and present it to tribal mem
bership. Another referendum will likely
be scheduled.

Money divided, lands bought
(Continued from page 1)
A total of 150,287 acres was purchased
recently by the Pcnobscots and Passamaquoddys, from Dead River Company of
Bangor. It is almost entirely timberland,
remote and uninhabited. The tribes hope
to profit from timber harvesting.
By far the largest share o f the purchase
is Penobscot land, and o f that tribe's
120.000 acres, a total o f 78,612 acres are
located in non-Indian territory. This means
the land is taxable under state law, and the
Penobscot Nation could conceivably lose
the land at some future date if unable to
pay taxes.
Asked why the tribe bought land outside
designated Indian territory in Maine,
tribal administrator Andrew X. Akins said,
“ without accepting Dead River’s offer,
wc might not have had a settlement.’’
Taxes are currently about $61,000 per year.
Tribal forester John Banks said he is
satisfied with the land purchased, and with
a Dead River management contract. “ We
are continuing" cutting practices now in
place. Banks said, adding, “ they [Dead
River) are cutting selectively, marking
every tree."
James Sappier, director o f the tribal
real estate and dem ography department,
said many land swaps may be possible

with the acreage just bought. Sometimes
three-way swaps are possible, involving
three landowning parties, he said.
There are 33 deed s involved in the
recent purchase. Sappier said. Newly
acquired land that falls into designated
Indian territory is located at Alder Stream,
Township 2, Range 9; and Township 3,
Range 9. It totals 41,486 acres.
Fee land, that will b e taxed, com es to
78,612 acres, and includes Lakeville,
Prentiss, Lee, Carroll, Springfield and
Williamsburg areas o f northeastern Maine.
Banks said he does not “ see the tribe
doing their own cutting in.the next couple
o f years," but he em phasized that Penob
scot Nation will supervise operations.
Under terms of the land claims act,
$54.5 million must be spent for purchase
o f lands. Hunting and trapping will be
under Indian jurisdiction; fishing will be
partially under Indian regulation.
Final closing on the sale o f 1,400 acres
of Dead River land had not been completed
as o f press time, but no difficulties were
anticipated.
M embers o f the Penobscot Nation land
acquisition committee are Akins, Sappier,
Banks. Joseph Francis, and Reuben
Phillips, who is Penobscot representative
to the state legislature.

Map showing lands bought by tribes.
Heavily bordered area represents land purchased by Penobscot Nation. Shaded area without
border was bought by the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

P o e tr y
Is Everybody Happy Now?
Is everybody happy now?
I’ done it.
ve
I’ given in, sold out.
ve
The system has me, so to speak.
And everyone knows . . .
You can’ fightthe system.
t
I have kissed ass.
1have denied Truth.
I have sold my own personal dignity.
And for what? For my children.
What other possible reason could there be?
Any material belonging
I would lose willingly
Rather than compromise myself.
But my children —
Oh, they arc precious to me.
Rather than have them suffer.
And suffer they would
(The system — remember?)
I have bow ed to arrogance and hatred;
I have kissed the feet o f scandalous
Untruth.
Now is everybody happy?
People have told me for years
That everybody does it.
No big deal, they say.
It’s foolish to fight; you cause trouble.
You make waves.

Passamaquoddy Lt. Gov. Carl Nicholas, left, of Indian Township, m eets with John D.
Stowcll, president of W ebb River Land Company in Dixfield. His firm com pleted a
study of settlem ent lands for the tribes.

Now, not making waves, I am mired
In a putrid, stagnant pool.
Scum-covered, foul.
I am covered with its slime.
I am unclean. loathsome.
Isn’t it grand to be part o f the crowd?
Is everybody happy now?
Man1K. Wilson (Theresa M. Francis)
Penobscot

“ NATIVE PRISONERS”
By Ted Ruark
Eagle, Eagle, high in the sky,
Hear our m essage as you pass by.
The Lewisburg S/CONNS as we are known,
As long in prison as the winds have
blown.
The Government spoke just the other day.
Said, “ Native Prisoners have a right to
pray.”
But because o f our traditional ways.
W e ’ll have to wait a few more days.
Brothers and Sisters outside these walls,
Hear us now. as the Eagle calls.
Teach us o f our ancestors' ways.
As we sit and wait these few more days.
A word or two would bring us light.
From those out there who’ like to write!
d
Lewisburg’s Spiritual/
Cultural Council of
Native Nations
P. O. Box 1000
Lewisburg, Penn. 17837

Subscribe!

Wabanaki Alliance May 1981

Flashback

news notes
Beano games underway

Traditional Hopi

INDIAN TOWNSHIP - Beano games,
also known as bingo, have begun at the
reservation here, under auspices o f the
senior citizens group. Beano occurs during
Monday dinners, at the senior citizens
center. Meals for the elderly are also
served Tuesdays and Thursdays. About
10-15 people usually attend the meal.

Sapiel named to
Mass. Indian panel

^ a lT o m f F(
UNr " " ‘'i Sa" b°rn and Carl F rands,
these circa 1930 photos, show
some activities are tuneless. The scene is Indian Island. [Courtesy of Patricia Knox)

Officials late on payments
Several households at Indian Island and
Indian Township have been reported very
lardy in payments on new housing they
occupy.
A source at the Passamaquoddy housing
authority at Indian Township confirmed
that many reservation residents are delin
quent in payments on their homes. Among
the delinquent parties, the source acknow
ledged. are several tribal officials who are
gainfully employed.
The same situation is found at Indian
Island, according to sources close to the
Penobscot housing authority director.
Already, three tenants have been evicted.
The sources confirmed that certain tribal
officials were among those who were

behind in payments to the housing au
thority.

BOSTON — .John Ansclma (Sammy)
Sapid, a Penobscot from Indian Island,
has been appointed to the Massachusetts
Governor s Council on Indian Affairs.
A swearing-in cerem ony took place last
month at the State House, where six other
new members joined the council. Among
them was Frank A. Ryan, head o f Har
vard s Indian program.
Sapiel, former director o f Indian Island’
s
recreation department, holds a similar
post with Boston Indian Council. Jamaica
Plain.

Tompkins exhibits
ELLSWORTH — M icmac artist Richard
Tompkins, currently an inmate at Maine
State Prison in Thomaston* recently
exhibited his drawings at Hancock Countyauditorium.

NEW YORK CITY Public Broad
ca st,^ Service (PBS) aired a documentary film on Hopi Indians, Friday, Mav 22
at 10 p.m.
The film covers persistent efforts o f a
small band o f Hopis to continue ancestral
ties to traditional ways, and the mother
earth. A Hopi named Carolyn Tawangyawma says: ‘‘
From my experience. I am
sticking to the old. old ways. The time is
com ing when all these materialistic ways
will have no value. R esources are running
out, and money is goin g to be worth noth
ing. The only worthwhile thing is tilling
the soil again.”

Four pass EMT exam
INDIAN TOWNSHIP - Four persons
recently completed training as Emergency
Medical Technicians.
They arc Mabel Newell. Renita Brown
Laura Nicholas and Lise Williams, and they
will work on local am bulance crews. In
July. Eleanor Socoby and Basil LaCoote
o f Indian Township will take their final
EMT tests. Indian Township has its own
ambulance service, currently operating
at a deficit.
6

At both reservations, payments are
scaled to an individual or family’ ability
s
Tompkins has lived in the mid-coast
to pay.
“ The biggest offenders arc high, in- area fo ra number o f years. He was raised
in a non-Indian foster family, and had two
place . . . officials.” a source said.
In other housing authority matters, the children by his first wife, Kineo and
Katadin. He recently re-married, and his
court battle to force state support o f bous
ing continues. At Indian Island, the second wife Emma lives in Northeast
housing authority has a $50,000-$60,000 Harbor. She works as a nurse in Bar
Harbor.
budget.
Litigation also continues against con
The exhibit received front page coverage
tractor J. W. Praught o f Roxbury, Mass., in The Ellsworth American.
who allegedly mishandled money and
cheated subcontractors working on Indian
Island housing.

New church
considered

INDIAN TOWNSHIP - A small group of
Passamaquoddy parishioners here has
begun meeting to consider construction of
a new Catholic Church on reservation land.
Larry Socobasin said plans are in pre
liminary stages, but one proposal is to
build a log-cabin style church half way
between the “Strip” part o f the com
munity. and Peter Dana Point, where the
present turn-of-the-ccntury church is
located.
A couple o f m eetings have been held,
and interested persons include Joseph
(Bobby) and Mary Ellen Socobasin. Larry
Socobasin, Wayne Newell, Linwood Sapiel,
Lester and Emma Nicholas, and John
Stevens. There is som e interest from
Pleasant Point, the sister Passamaquoddy
reservation.
St. Ann’ Mission at Peter Dana Point
s
is currently directed by the Rev. Joseph
Laughiin, a Jesuit who has led a Charis
matic movement on the reservation.

The Indian Island girls gymnasdes class in (heir sporty new uniforms.

Junior gymnasts to perform
NDIAN ISLAND — A group of young
nale gymnasts will present a special
Tormance June 14. at 7:30 p.m. at
sson College.
The Penobscot gymnastics class will
nonstrate technique in a variety of
ys. Tickets are available from Erlene
.il at the Penobscot Tribal community

subject ot TV show

building, and at the door.
Scheduled perform ers from Indian
Island are Greta Neptune, Clarice Chavaree, M elissa LcBretton, LecAnn DeCora.
Fawn Neptune, Darcic Corbett, Andrea
Corbett, M elanie Corbett, Denise Pehrson,
Susan Thompson, Winona Lola, Jillian
Paul and Tricia Sappier.

INDIAN ISLAND
SNACK BAR
NOW OFFERS
PIZZA
Try it today: Mushroom, hamburg,
pepperoni, regular, green pepper, double
cheese, or combination.
ALSO: Daily luncheon specials
Open for Breakfast at 7 a.m.
Howard Wilson, Manager
Alice Sockabasin. Josie Ranco.
Assistant Managers

W ITH HONORS — Graduating June 5
from Old Town High School will be Kelly
Nelson, daughter of Lorraine Nelson of
Indian Island. She is a member o f the
National Honor Society.

LAND USE PLANNER
Hie Penobscot Nation Department of
Heal Estate and Demography is accept
ing applications for a land use planner.
Hie position will be responsible to the
Director o f Real Estate and Demography
m trust responsibilities in the real estate
activities ot land use planning, environ
mental statements or assessments, and
water inventories. Salary is based on
experience and up to $16,000 per year.
Real Estate and Demography is a trust
department subject to 25 CFR rules and
regulations. Requirements include: B.S.
in Biology, Environmental Sciences,
Agriculture and Resource Economics or
Natural Resources Land Use Planning,
or six years experience in these or related
areas.
Please send resume to George Tomer,
Director o f Employment Development
and Training. Box 405. Old Town,
Maine 04468.
An Equal Opportunity Employer