This class will offer six perspectives on the sovereign presence of the Wabanaki People in the lands we now call Maine. Each class topic will be presented by one or more guest speakers, with Jack Russell facilitating.

Classes:

1. Children of Gluskap
Wabanaki Indians on the Eve of European Invasion and through 1820
Presenter: Harald Prins, author of The Mi’kmaq, “Children of Gluskap” and many works on the Wabanaki

2. Wabanaki and Mount Desert Island
Wabanaki Interaction with Whites on MDI from First Contact to the Present
Presenters: Bunny McBride, co-author of Asticou’s Island Domain, Indians in Eden: Wabanakis and Rusticators on Maine’s Mt. Desert Island and many works on the Wabanaki; Becky Cole Will, Chief of Resource Management, Acadia National Park; Betsy Richards (Cherokee), President & CEO of the Abbe Museum

3. From the Land Claims Settlement to Present Controversies
From the 1981 LCS to Present Contests about Federal Recognition and State Relations
Presenter: Paul Thibeault, previous Managing Director of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission

4. Wabanaki Renaissance: Contests and Culture from 1980 to Present
Wabanaki Assertion of Heritage and Presence in the Past Two Generations
Invited Presenters: Darren Ranco, Donald Soctomah, Donna Loring, Gretchen Faulkner

5. History, Art and Culture of Wabanaki Basket Making
How the Wabanaki Have Earned Their Keep and Expressed Their Lives in Basket Making
Presenter: Theresa Secord (Penobscot), founder of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance

6. Wabanaki Conservation: Care of the Environment from Time Immemorial To the Present
Wabanaki Relationship with Nature from Hunter-Gatherer History to Present
Invited Presenter: John Banks

Course offerings