Wabanaki REACH: Honoring Maine’s Indigenous Communities

Wabanaki Reach is Saint Mary’s November Mission of the Month as we as a parish recognize and honor our native peoples of Maine. Wabanaki Reach is an organization that has a two-fold purpose: serving indigenous people and educating others.

Today, the four Maine Indian tribes are the Maliseet (Houlton), Mi’kmaq (Aroostook County), Penobscot (Old Town), and Passamaquoddy (Washington County), known collectively as the Wabanaki, "People of the Dawnland." Each community maintains its own tribal government, community schools, cultural center and each manages its respective lands and natural resources. Although most of Maine's Native people belong to one of these four federally recognized groups and reside on tribal lands, other Native people live in towns and cities across the State.

According to their website, Wabanaki Reach “supports the self-determination of Wabanaki people through education, truth-telling, restorative justice, and restorative practices in Wabanaki and Maine communities. We design our structures and processes to be responsive to Wabanaki communities and beneficial to Wabanaki people.”

The organization “envisions a future when Maine and Wabanaki people join together to acknowledge truth and work collectively toward equity, healing, and positive change. We aspire to restore right relations, responsibility, compassion, love, reciprocity, abundance, and joy.”

Wabanaki Reach “believes in the natural strength and beauty of Wabanaki culture, language and ways of being. We believe in the power of Wabanaki people learning the truth about history and reclaiming traditional healing practices. We honor and promote Wabanaki values of taking care of one another, of being grateful, joyful, loving and forgiving.”

To learn more about Wabanaki Reach, access their website at: wabanakitreach.org Be sure to check out the wonderful bulletin board outside the Guild Room that our talented Judith Brooks has created.