Andrew Bourassa: Scalp Towel Gets To The Heart Of Why We Need State Leadership On Mascots

Overflow turnout at yesterday's public hearing for Maine's bill to ban Native mascots in public schools produced seven speakers in opposition to the bill and at least twice that many in favor. LD 944 now proceeds to a work session (not yet scheduled) before the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs votes on whether or not to recommend passage of the bill by the full legislature.

Andrew Bourassa, Early Childhood Education Coach at KVCAP Child & Family Services which operates MSAD 54's preK programs, had the quote of the day when he told the Education committee:

"The scalp towel gets to the heart of why we need state leadership on mascots."



Bourassa also noted that "local control is surpassed by civil rights" and that Skowhegan "needs the government to be the adult in the room."

Some context for his remarks was muted when the committee chair asked the previous speaker, Mark Roman of Solon, to refrain from repeating examples of hate talk aimed at Maulian and Barry Dana, Penobscot Indians who have led the successful effort to retire Skowhegan's Native mascot. "We will read them," Rep. Victoria Kornfield told Roman after interrupting him to ask if it was desirable to amplify hate speech. 

This gave Roman a chance to model the very thing that mascot changers in Skowhegan have been teaching all along: if someone says your actions harm them, listen -- and be willing to change.

Both Kornfield and my wonderful husband spoke respectfully to each other and resolved their disagreement.

Barry Dana kicked off yesterday's testimony with a moving description of his own experiences playing sports for the Old Town Indians which changed their mascot years ago. He questioned whether Native mascots honor as they are said to do, and made the historical observation:

"Being fierce warriors didn't work out so well for us...we've been trying to be diplomats for 500 years."

Dana also noted that "it is a challenge for Native students to be successful" and they don't need additional blocks that lower their self-esteem. "Would you want to allow your schools to harm your students?"

Other speakers of note yesterday included Sherri Mitchell (Penobscot) and Dwayne Tomah (Passamoquoddy).  Unfortunately I missed their testimony because I was in a meeting.

Five members of the MSAD 54 school board: Peggy Lovejoy, Derek Ellis, Sarah Bunker, Kathy Wilder -- all in favor -- and of course Jennifer Poirier, who leads the opposition in Skowhegan. According to my husband, Poirier's testimony drew heavily on material from NAGA, the organization associated with the Washington DC football team with the racist name.

One of LD 944's co-sponsors, Rep. Lois Galgay Rickett, described cutting off the offensive logo of that team from fan gear she had purchased "and I've survived nicely."

Bunker noted that there was a school board election going forward that very day in the MSAD 54 town of Canaan serving as a sort of referendum on the local mascot issue where Board Chair Dixie Ring was running for re-election. I woke this morning to find the good news that she won against a write-in candidate vowing to restore the Indian mascot at Skowhegan area schools. Ring previously told a reporter for the local paper that she had listened to Native people and changed her mind on the mascot issue.

My favorite speaker during the time I was able to listen to the audio feed from the hearing was a nine year old who spoke just after his mother. I didn't catch his first name but was riveted by his articulate and well-reasoned testimony. Also envious of the curriculum his older sibling described receiving in downeast Maine at the middle school level. 

Skowhegan students had less flattering things to say about their district's educational efforts around Maine Native history and culture.  Adelle Belanger, a senior who represented SAHS at Girls State last summer, described her four years:

We used to have this one day. Freshman year we had actual Native Americans come and talk but we weren’t allowed to ask them questions about the mascot. Sophomore year we had one website with a bunch of broken links... Junior year fell on a snow day. Nothing yet this year. 

Anyone claiming that we are getting education by having a mascot of Native Americans: that’s not true.

My favorite citizen lobbyist on environmental issues, Hilary Lister, pointed out that "the institutional endorsement" of Native mascots is a form of bullying. She described her own high school years at Nokomis when the Warrior was their mascot, "a stereotypical silhouette with Western headdress" support for which "manifested in ways that were really mocking." She described fake war dances and whooping, "mockery of a culture...while everyone sat silent...When you allow a person to be a mascot, it's easy to turn them into a stereotype."

Speakers in opposition had long since ceased when the final speaker in favor came to the microphone, a woman whose name I unfortunately missed. She sealed the deal by describing Maine's developing reputation as a racist state due to headlines generated by our former governor's many racist remarks to the press, and a white supremacist who gained notoriety before he was fired from his position as town manager in Jackman.

"I have childhood friends who are afraid to visit me here," she told the committee. "We have an opportunity with this bill to turn that around."

Amen to that, sister.

A Path Forward For The Students Of Skowhegan

Photo by Ben Bulkeley "New mascot pumps up Wiscasset's fans" Wiscasset Newspaper, December 22, 2014.

These articles about Wiscasset High School's change from "R#%^*(@#" to "Wolverines" -- and the special mascot costume they created to celebrate the change -- are inspiring! 

"Wiscasset High releases poll on proposals to replace controversial "R#%^*(@#" moniker" by Seth Koenig, Bangor Daily News, April 15, 2011.

"New mascot pumps up Wiscasset's fans" by Ben Bulkeley, Wiscasset Newspaper, December 22, 2014.

Photo by Ben Bulkeley, Wiscasset Newspaper, which reported that the Wolverine costume was specially designed with a fan inside the head using funds raised by the Wiscasset Boosters.

Now that the school board in Skowhegan voted on March 7 to retire the team name and move forward, the Skowhegan "I#$%^@ Pride" (SIP) group is lashing out. They've created a ridiculous logo using a sheriff's badge and the word "Outlaw" to keep their lost cause alive, and are revving up threats and falsehoods against those perceived as instrumental in the change.

Retired Penobscot Chief Barry Dana, father of Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana, is one such person. Here's his response to a post in the Facebook group SIP claiming that he and his wife, Lori Dana, who served on the school board in her town for many years, turned their backs during the flag salute at the beginning of the March 7 meeting.

Barry Dana's response was removed from Facebook after Chretien's accusatory post was removed. It began by noting that he and his wife entered a very crowded meeting room and stood near the back. The two stood with a couple from Massachusetts and (what follows is a direct quote from Barry's post):

...talked. Then the announcement came for the pledge as it does at all sad 54 meeting of which I have been to several now. So, we stopped talking and faced towards the front of the room. Being behind so many people I never saw the flag.  

I do not pledge the flag, on account of the massacres of my ancestors . I see each of the 50 stars representing the 50 states where native genocide happened, i.e. norigwock massacre, the great swamp massacre, the trail of teas. wounded knee...and thousands more. 

I do however always stand for the flag as it does represent the tens of thousands of native people who have fought in foreign wars..many being my relatives...some never making it home 

So, someone, maybe this Derek decided that not crossing my heart and stating the pledge is somehow to be considered as "turning my back"...nice try Derek...but you lie...Liars lie 

The thread he started goes on with his people falling hook line and sinker for the lie...People believe what they want to 

If I so wanted to disrespect the flag, why didn't I "turn my back" at all the other school board meetings?...because I didn't then nor when he lied about me doing so....

Oh and their people also said I was kicked off the island for stealing money....more lies

They have the right to fight for their fake honoring, but why stoop to such a low level as to lie.... 

Please if anyone seeing this post can share it to this Derek, please do so...so his faithful followers can see the truth ...even though they won't believe it.....with so many smart phones these days, seems so someone seeing me turn my back would have for the sake of the flag taken a pic and shared it far and wide by now

Barry, I don't know if you read my blog but I know that SIP people do, so I'm sharing your message here.

I note that one of the comments on the SIP thread also accuses a board member who voted for change, but doesn't use a name. I guess reciting the pledge of allegiance is mandatory in the minds of some people?

Let me come right out and say that I haven't recited the pledge in years, although I do stand out of respect for the feelings of the people around me. My issue is different from Barry's, though both are related to white supremacy and the violence it perpetrates.

I will start reciting the pledge again when my country stops using my tax dollars to bomb children asleep in their beds or on the bus to school in oil-rich lands.

I'm not ashamed of standing up for what I believe in. Luckily, the 1st Amendment protects my right to political speech, including not reciting a pledge of allegiance to the flag and the republic for which it stands, allegedly "with liberty and justice or all." Millions of Black and brown people are incarcerated for crimes that white people walk free for, or for trying to bring their families to the border to apply for asylum (safe refuge). Thousands of children and even babies are separated from their parents and caged in for-profit detention centers because of being brought to our border in a legal quest for safety.

Students in public schools are free to have their opinions, too. They can like one mascot or dislike another. They can stand for the pledge, or sit it out. These are the freedoms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. This is what our elected officials are sworn to uphold.

Good luck to the MSAD 54 school board on the path forward to a real mascot that dishonors no one.

Now That Their Public Forum Overwhelmingly Rejected The Mascot, What Lies Ahead For Skowhegan?

Penobscot Youth Council members drove through an ice storm to be present for the Skowhegan mascot public forum.
Photo credit: Jeff Kirlin

Continuing my report back on the January 8 public forum, I want to say that Albie Barden was a particularly memorable speaker. Pursuing a "show, don't tell" strategy, Barden stepped to the mic not to call for more education about Native culture in our area, but to actually provide some.

Albie Barden  Photo credit: Jeff Kirlin

Barden honored his ancestors by carrying his father's garden hoe, one he still uses. Then he honored the bounty of the Earth by bringing flint corn and a local bean variety, both grown thousands of years ago locally. He also brought some salmon, a traditional food from the Kennebec River before it was dammed. He offered the board and everyone in the audience enough seed corn to grow it themselves, and spoke of his vision of everyone doing that. He modeled gratitude and respect. But, and this is important: he never claimed to be an Indian.

Penobscot member Skyler Lewie, 15, telling the board they cannot possibly know what it feels like to be in her shoes.
Photo: Jeff Kirlin

Overall, the strategic reach of the speakers for retirement was broad and deep. Some pointed out the moral imperative to respect others as we ourselves wish to be respected. Some pointed out the legal dangers of a publicly funded school system clinging to discriminatory practices. Some pointed out the economic dangers of doing things that are illegal.

Student Kayla Dickinson pointed out that racially motivated bullying at Skowhegan Area High School is a daily byproduct of a racist mascot being tolerated.

Dickinson reminded the board that students deserve a safe learning environment, and scolded the board for not providing that.

Several students pointed out how hard it is to play sports for teams perceived as racist throughout the state. 

Skowhegan Area Middle School student Carly McCabe told the board that running cross country as a "so-called Skowhegan Indian is embarrassing" and that she is further embarrassed because the board has done nothing about the mascot problem.
Photo credit: Jeff Kirlin

Some provided history lessons on the Norridgewock massacre in the 1700s, and some provided information on the effects of the mass removal of Native children from their families in the 1970s. Some provided citations for studies demonstrating the harm of Native mascots on young people's confidence and educational outcomes. Some listed the many, many education and psychology organizations on record opposing Native mascots.


(If this embedded video of the entire public forum does not work for you, you can view it here on YouTube.)

Interestingly, nobody spoke to an ongoing informal boycott both of business displaying Skowhegan Indian Pride signage, and of the town itself. Based on social media postings I've seen, there are numerous people who vote with their pocketbooks and decline to shop or dine there these days. Sadly, Skowhegan's identity as a sinkhole of racism is pretty well established by now and it will take years to undo it.

My grandpa is a lifelong skowhegan resident, can confirm the racist bit.

— your mom (@w33niehutjunior) January 10, 2019

But, there are some glimmers of hope on the horizon.

Still from DAWNLAND.
Click here to download a free PDF of the DAWNLAND Viewer’s Guide.

A local arts council is working out a plan to screen the documentary DAWNLAND so people in Skowhegan can learn more about how the state of Maine treated Native families when I was in college.

You can also see DAWNLAND today, January 12, at 11am on Maine Public Broadcasting's Independent Lens.

Also, Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) central Maine chapter is looking into organizing a door knocking campaign similar to one I participated in last year in Augusta (you can read about that here).

There are lots of other ideas floating around, too. The time is right to move in a positive direction.

Adelle Belanger On The Racist Backlash After Skowhegan Mascot Public Forum

Screenshot from Somerset Community TV 11 video of Jan. 8 forum

With permission from the author, today I share Adelle Belanger's report back on the racist backlash she experienced and witnessed following her testimony at the January 8 public forum on the Skowhegan Area High School "Indian" mascot. Belanger is a senior at SAHS.

Full video of the forum, including her remarks which begin at the 8:52 mark, may be seen here on YouTube. Thanks to Somerset Community television 11 for their coverage.

Today, my Indigenous classmate was called a c*nt for sharing her opinion on HER school's mascot.

Today, I read racist comments first hand, and called out people who insisted that I was a liberal troll.

Today, I saw white people claim to be Native to say they are not offended by the mascot.

Today, I saw people commenting that my friend who is a reporter should jump in a lake for reporting accurately on the public forum about the mascot.

Today, I saw people claim that two Natives I look up to and respect were ignorant pot stirrers and that they were the real racists.

Today, I saw some of the meanest comments I've ever seen. And trust me, I've seen some mean ones.

Today, I heard people say that all four of Maine's federally recognized tribes were oversensitive crybabies who had nothing better to focus on. All four of them.

Today, I gave people evidence they ignored.

Today, I explained myself over and over, just because I know it's the right thing to do, even if it will not change any minds.

Today, I saw people say that they didn't care how Natives feel about the mascot.

Today, I was so drained. I can not imagine what it must be like for people who can not get away from this. I have the option not to post. I have the option not to engage. The mascot affects my life very little. I am so saddened to think of the people who can't escape this. The Natives who have to explain themselves over and over. The people who get ridiculed for defending themselves and their culture.

For my friends that are still on the fence, I ask you to look at the type of people who are unwilling to change. If you don't support change, you are not honoring Native Americans.

Look at your heroes. What side would they be on? Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, the likes. Who would they support?

-- Adelle Belanger, class of 2019, Skowhegan Area High School

originally posted January 9, 2018

Maine's Long, Sad History Of Racism: Charlottesville, And Skowhegan

Source: KKK newspaper Maine Klansman Weekly, Dec. 6, 1923 shared by The Activist History Review

What do the fight to keep Skowhegan's team name "Indians" and the fight to keep the statue of a Confederate general in Charlottesville have in common? A lot, actually.

On the surface: claims about honor, heritage and "Pride" abound among those clinging to emblems of racism past.

On the underbelly: demeaning language, threats of violence (veiled and unveiled), and especially sexual violence aimed at non-white women.

Every white person in the USA probably has a racist Uncle Joe. A distinguishing feature of the civil war that produced Confederate generals was that it tore families and neighbors apart. The facebook comments I've shared here pitted someone I'm distantly related to by marriage plus the family member of a neighbor and close friend of mine against another neighbor's family member: Maulian Dana, Penboscot Tribal Ambassador.

Dana has drawn Skowhegan "Indian Pride" members Joe Dionne and Robert Graf's wrath by asking, politely, for the local high school to stop using an offensive Native nickname and imagery for sports.

Results of a poll that accompanied a "retire the name" op-ed in the Bangor Daily News last week

Here is how blogger Shay Stewart-Bouley described our state in a post about the outgoing of an openly racist governor and the incoming of Janet Mills, who says she wants to mend fences:

As a Black person living in Maine, the LePage years have been difficult; throw in the first two years under the Trump Administration and there are pockets of Maine that are downright hostile to Black bodies. Truthfully, there are parts of Maine that I would be hard-pressed to take my Black ass.

Would it surprise you to know that the Ku Klux Klan was once a major force in Maine politics?


While black men and boys were being lynched across the nation, the KKK in Maine was marching openly through the streets stirring up hatred at Catholics and labor union members. In such a predominately white state, the KKK had to pick a much bigger group to hate than blacks. Conveniently, French Canadian labor organizers fit the bill.

Source: Maine Memory Network

Investigative journalists have shown the KKK tend to be respected businessmen by day. Why do you think they need to wear hoods when they terrorize families by night?

Do oligarchs like mill owners actually care which religion or skin color their workers are? As long as they work for minimum wage without demanding more or organizing themselves, any color or religion will do.

"The Face of the Ruling Class" by George Grosz, Germany, 1923

When the discontented, chronically unemployed masses of Germany between world wars threatened the established order, the wealthy capitalists saw an opportunity: turn existing prejudice against Jewish people into a rallying cry to distract the poor. Get the downtrodden to think that Jews were the problem rather than the wealthy Protestant industrialists. Promise workers they could feed their own children if they looked the other way while the Jewish children were starved in ghettos before being marched off to death camps.

The current demagogue with bad hair in the White House didn't invent racism, but he did ride it to power. 

Economic desperation and humiliation fuel the emotions of struggling white people clinging to symbols of a time when they believed their skin color or religion alone made them better than others. The taxes theme will emerge again and again as people who work for a living face up to the inability to make ends meet at the end of each month. (What do you think the Yellow Vest uprisings in France are about?)

All working people are being strangled by the hold of the massively wealthy military-industrial complex. All are being sold the lie that more bombs and warships make us in any way safer.

Did you know the U.S. military has more operations going in Africa at this point than in the Middle East? 

The powers that be don't want you to know. The media conspire to keep you from knowing. They hope you'll get distracted by a local issue like retiring an offensive team name, or taking down a statue glorifying someone who used violence to defend slavery.

Anything to distract you from the fact that your teeth need work, but you can't afford to go to the dentist.

That's why there's so much emotion that often seems hard to fathom wrapped up in a high school team name. That's why you'll hear those resisting the inevitable change say things like "It's all we have and you're trying to take it away" in a desperate tone of voice and with tears in their eyes.

That's what they still say about the Confederate flag, too. Even in Maine.

School Board Director Cites 'Dark Perspective' In Native Dad's Conversation About Racist Mascot

Below is the letter I sent to the superintendent and board chair in charge of Skowhegan Area High School's racist mascot, the "Indian." Native leader Penobscot Chief Barry Dana is the dad referred to, and his teen daughter grew up to be the Penobscot Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana. Both will be at the board meeting this Thursday, December 6 at 7pm at the Skowhegan Area Middle School cafeteria.

TO: Brent Colbry ,
Dixie Ring

Dear Superintendent Colbry and Board Chair Ring,

The following post to the group Skowhegan Pride on Facebook by an MSAD#54 board member who is the group's administrator is circulating on social media.

This post may very well go on to be used by college professors teaching about white supremacy and the blindness it engenders. "Dark perspective" is an interesting choice of words. It is troubling to think that Ms. Poirier has learned so little from serving as a director of your schools. Dictating how targeted groups should feel, and then giving parenting advice about how they should talk to their targeted children -- wow. Has Ms. Poirier read the American Psychological Association's 2005 report on how Native mascots adversely affect all students in schools still using them?

The mascot issue is not going away; that much must be clear by now. Please do the right thing and put your high school's discriminatory practice to rest.

Respectfully yours,

Lisa Savage

Skowhegan taxpayer

Later, I sent these educational leaders news about an educational opportunity for us all. 

The documentary DAWNLAND will be livestreamed Wed., Dec. 5 free on the YouTube channel of the Upstander Project at 5pm. The film documents the removal of Native children from their families in Maine, and the work of the Maine-Wabanaki Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission toward healing.

Penobscot Nation To Governor-Elect Janet Mills: Uphold Our Right To Protect Our Children, Our River

Rally to retire the mascot, Skowhegan, Maine August 5, 2015. (My photo)

With the racist "pretendian" mascot issue blowing up again in Skowhegan, it might be time for some context.

Here is Penobscot wise woman Dawn Neptune Adams' essay on indigenous issues in play as Maine's former Attorney General Janet Mills heads toward being sworn in as governor. (Photos and captions added by me.)

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell of the Penobscot Nation at center, protesting then Attorney General Janet Mills' trampling of Native sovereignty as it applies to the Penobscot River.  Photo credit: Carl D. Walsh, Portland Press Herald

Indigenous Issues and the Newly-Elected Governor, Janet Mills

Moving Forward

By Dawn Neptune Adams

November, 2018 

Congratulations! We all survived the midterm elections. Now, where do we go from here? 

Newly-elected Governor Janet Mills is known for her work in opposition to Indigenous issues during her time as Attorney General. Three of the most pressing issues are presented in the following essay, along with steps in moving forward: 

Banner created for the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission, which documented sexual abuse and other violence against Native children removed from their families and placed in foster care in the 1970's. For more details on righting this historic wrong, see the documentary Dawnland currently streaming on PBS.

1. VAWA

Native Womxn are three times more likely to suffer from violent crimes than any other group of womxn. According to statistics, 80% of these crimes are committed by non-Native men. Mills fought to keep Wabanaki Womxn from protections under the Violence Against Women Act of 2013, stating that our communities are not sovereign but are municipalities and therefore not eligible for the additional safeguards put in place by the Federal Government, for every Federally-recognized tribe in the Nation but those in Maine and Alaska.  

Moving forward, an updated version of Legislative bill LD 268 “An Act regarding Penobscot Nation’s and Passamaquoddy Tribes’ Authority to exercise Jurisdiction under Federal Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Federal Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013” must be introduced and passed. Any attempt on the part of Governor Mills to veto the bill should be met with resistance.  

Maulian Dana, right, joined her father Penobscot Chief Barry Dana and several other family members at a rally to retire the mascot in Skowhegan, August 5, 2015. (My photo)

A comment was requested from Penobscot Nation Ambassador Maulian Dana, who answered: “We are committed to working out the kinks in the potential jurisdictional issues that have been barriers in the past. This may mean looking at how the [Maine Indian Land Claims] Settlement Act is being interpreted and used not in the best interest of tribal sovereignty. It is on the radar of the new Governor and we are hopeful we can reach some deeper understanding.” 

Banner by the Artists' Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) of the Union of Maine Visual Artists

2. Penobscot Nation vs. Attorney General Janet Mills 

The Penobscot River has always been home to the People of the Penobscot Nation. As the Attorney General listed in the lawsuit Penobscot Nation vs. AG Janet Mills, Mills has vociferously defended the State’s opinion that the Water flowing in the Penobscot River surrounding the 200+ islands that make up the Penobscot Nation, was not part of Penobscot Territory. This contradicts Treaties and past interpretations of the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (MILCSA). The State of Maine and a consortium of 17 Industrial and municipal intervenors, represented by the lobbying firm Pierce Atwood, opposed Penobscot stewardship of the main stem of the River in a manner said by the Federal Government to be in violation of Federal Indian law, and tantamount to an “unlawful territorial taking” of 61 miles of River. In December of 2015, the U.S. District Court in Portland, Maine, reaffirmed the Tribe’s Treaty-reserved sustenance fishing rights, but decided in favor of the State in redefining the definition of “Tribal Waters.” In the First Circuit Court of Appeals, one of three judges issued a dissenting opinion. Judge Juan Torruella wrote an argument reaffirming the Penobscot territory to include both the land and the water, in which he cited the Treaties of 1796, 1818, and 1833; and legal precedents set in previous agreements which support Tribal stewardship of the River. 

Moving forward, the Penobscot Nation has one more level of appeals called an “en banc review” in which the case is heard by a large panel of judges and is usually reserved for complicated or unusual cases. This option is currently being discussed by Tribal leaders. We will need the support of all of our friends and coalitions to keep Industrial interests from framing the narrative in a way that suggests the Penobscot People are trying to exclude anyone from using the River; the Penobscot Nation is simply defending itself against territorial theft and a termination attempt. The River is our Relative and we are determined to protect her health for future generations of ALL the people of Wabanaki Territory. 

Sherri Mitchell speaking about Penobscot Nation restoring the river's health so that it no longer raised sores on children who swam in it. Bangor, June 10, 2017 (my photo)

3. Maine vs. the EPA

Clean water and fish on the dinner table should be a right for all of the people in Wabanaki Territory, now called Maine. In 2014, the State of Maine’s DEP tried unsuccessfully to set water standards so low as to allow only 1.4 ounces of fish from Tribal Waters per day. This equals a portion the size of almost one-half of a deck of playing cards; not even close to the definition of sustenance.  

The EPA refused these standards, fulfilling the Federal Government’s trust responsibility to uphold Treaty-reserved sustenance fishing rights, and in 2016, insisted on water standards in Tribal Waters that would allow for safe consumption of 10 ounces of fish per day. This resulted in the lawsuit Maine vs. the EPA, in which AG Mills stood with Industrial interests and Gov. LePage in opposition to clean water for all of us. Later, Mills petitioned Trump’s EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, to withdraw the standards set by his predecessor.  

At the current time, Scientists from the Penobscot Nation Dept. of Natural Resources recommend NO freshwater fish consumption for Womxn who are pregnant, nursing, or planning to become pregnant; nor for any child under the age of eight. For anyone else, recommended consumption is 10 ounces per month. 

Moving forward, resistance to this regression in water quality standards is of the utmost importance. Because Penobscot people eat more fish than surrounding populations, the cancer rate is five times higher in our communities than in the communities of our neighbors. Our cultural connection to the River includes eating fish, just as our Ancestors have done since time began here in this beautiful place we now call Maine. Clean water is in the best interest of ALL the people of Maine, and we must make sure that Industrial interests and Trump’s EPA no longer have an ally in the Blaine House nor in the Attorney General’s office, as they did while LePage was Governor. 

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills at far right. Photo credit: Carl D. Walsh, Portland Press Herald. 

In all of the issues outlined above, the recurring theme is the question of sovereignty and misinterpretation of the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act. The Act was signed with the understanding that any ambiguities should favor of the Tribe and that the MILCSA never abrogated our Treaty rights. I look forward to standing with you in the protection of our Relatives.

No Substitute For Respect - White Supremacists Infesting Maine, As Usual #mepolitics

 Elizabeth Ann Mitchell, Penobscot, On Why She Interrupted Janet Mills With Some Truth

Central Mainers often claim, We're not racist because there are no people of color around to be racist to. It's not true and never has been, but it's a pitch perfect example of why racism is not about the hatefulness of any individual. Racism is a systemic problem that affects and harms every single person living under it, no matter whether they are deemed by their appearance to be one of the "superior" group or one of the targeted groups.

Native people have maintained their culture, including language, while being sytematically robbed of their territory and persecuted for their beliefs in Maine. 

The Penobscot and Passamoquoddy are sovereign nations, and if anyone should leave so that a homogenous group of people can live in paradise, it certainly isn't Natives who should go. Skowhegan Area High School in central Maine continues to cling to its racist mascot the "Indian" despite the sobering testimony of Natives explaining how damaging this is to their children. 

Now lots of immigrants from around the globe have settled in Maine and are subject to racist harrassment and microaggressions daily. Check out this substitute teacher addressing a high school student with Lebanese ancestry. Brody Elahmar recorded her threatening him with deportation (though it's doubtful she knows such a big word) and ordering him to "speak her language." 

His comeback is priceless: "How many languages do you speak? I speak three."


Posted to YouTube by Brody Elahmar with the comment: "My teacher was harassing me because of my color !"

On the heels of this abuse of power by a public employee came news that the town manager of far north town Jackman is an avid white segragationist who invented a flag for an all-white New England devoted to Anglo culture that he imagines. With the ironic name Kawczynski, he is now trying to raise funds on a site called Hatreon (I can't make this shit up) that lacks guidelines banning hate speech like other crowdfunding sites have.

The town's selectmen may not have known about his desire to build an all-white "Albion" when they hired him, but he's been really active on social media since last November. Currently, they are conferring with their lawyer and I suspect he, like the substitute teacher, will be fired. 

The Chamber of Commerce in Jackman has already come out publicly in favor of firing him. 

(Too bad the Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce has not done the same; instead, it concocts racist promotions to "help" local businesses.) Jackman relies heavily on tourism for revenue, and a boycott would hit them where it hurts.

Here is the letter I sent to them via the contact listed on the town's website, Administrative Secretary Heidi.Dionne@Jackmanme.net:

Dear Jackman selectmen,

Your recently hired town manager, Tom Kawczynski, is making quite a splash as the public face of racism and religious bigotry in northern Maine. I am going to assume that you knew nothing of this when you hired him. Of course he is entitled to his views and to express them under the 1st amendment. But, in his capacity as town manager, encouraging those who share his hate to move to Jackman is problematic.

As a resident of central Maine along Route 201 I am concerned that a nearby town's manager is an active white supremacist. I hope the hateful crowds who descended on Charlottesville, Virginia last year do not feel welcome to congregate near my little town on the Kennebec.

As a teacher I will continue providing opportunities for children to learn what we all have in common: our humanity, our compassion, and our critical thinking abilities. As a history major I have a keen appreciation of what happens to societies who descend into hateful beliefs and practices. It is not a happy outcome for any group, however much they consider themselves "superior" to other people.

Sincerely,

Lisa Savage

Solon

I think such groups and individuals are afraid of competition. Who wants to be outdone by a teenager that speaks more languages than you do? 

Would it surprise you to learn that the KKK was active in Maine in the 1920's marching against Francophone immigrants who were taking "our" jobs?

The KKK in Maine is having a resurgence in these troubled times.

It is time for those quietly watching the rise of white supremacists in office to stand up and be counted.