1 NEWS ADVISORY For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 For More Information: John Dieffenbacher-Krall, MITSC (207) 817-3799 (c) (207) 944-8376 Dr. Darren Ranco, UMaine Native American Programs, 581-1801 Margaret Nagle, UMaine, News Manager, 581-3745 Wabanaki Scholars to Address Treaties at Events Scheduled For Passamaquoddy Tribe @ Sipayik 3/19, UMaine 3/20 Four Wabanaki scholars, Andrea Bear Nicholas, M.Ed. (Maliseet), Mark Chavaree, Esq. (Penobscot), Gail Dana-Sacco, PhD., MPH (Passamaquoddy), and Vera Francis, M.Ed. (Passamaquoddy) will discuss different eras of treaty making by the Wabanaki Tribes within the region at events scheduled for March 19 at the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik (Pleasant Point) Tribal Council Chambers from noon to 4 pm and March 20 in the Wells Conference Center, UMaine, Orono, at 7 pm. The two-day program, “Wabanaki Self-Determination: Earth Treaties to Settlement Acts & Beyond,” is co-founded by the Wabanaki Center at the University of Maine (UMaine), Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission (MITSC), and American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Healing Justice Program New England. Last year the Wabanaki Center, MITSC, and AFSC Healing Justice Program New England initiated the Wabanaki Treaty Learning Series to educate people about principally Wabanaki Treaties and similar agreements, such as the Maine Indian Claims Settlement. The co-founding groups developed the Treaty Learning Series to help people understand the legal, historical, and political foundation for relations between settlers and the Indigenous Peoples of this region. Andrea Bear Nicholas is Maliseet from Nekotkok (Tobique First Nation) and recently retired Chair of Studies of Aboriginal Cultures of Atlantic Canada at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, NB, which she held for over 20 years. She has taught courses on Mi’kmaq and Maliseet History, Native Women, Native Education, and Colonialism, and has published articles on these topics and others, including treaties, oral traditions, and language survival. Mark Chavaree, Penobscot Tribal citizen, has served as in-house legal counsel to the Penobscot Indian Nation for 24 years where he is responsible for reviewing and addressing all legal matters of the Nation and coordinating tribal relations with the State of Maine and United States Government. Mark received a degree in history from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law 2 School. Gail Dana-Sacco, founder of Wayfinders for Health, is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Maine, where she worked for many years through the Wabanaki Center to develop and support Wabanaki scholarship. Dr. Dana-Sacco earned her PhD in Health and Social Policy at the Johns Hopkins University conducting her dissertation research, “Applying Passamaquoddy Wisdom to Contemporary Tribal Health Decision-making” in her home community at Sibyig, and she is affiliated with the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins as a faculty associate. Vera Francis is the Economic Development Planner for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. Ms. Francis earned a master’s degree from the University of Maine in Orono. After achieving her Masters, Ms. Francis completed most of the work required for a PhD in Indigenous Education at Lesley University in Boston, and is nearing completion of a law degree. She is also a traditional storyteller, using the stories of the land itself to help deepen understanding of place and people of the Passamaquoddy Bay region. Both the Sipayik and UMaine events are free and open to the public. For more information about the Sipayik event, contact Plansowes Dana via email at buntz_wez@hotmail. Questions concerning the UMaine event should be directed to Bethany Haverlock via email at [email protected] or phone 581-4450. The co-founding groups thank the sponsors of Wabanaki Self-Determination: Earth Treaties to Settlement Acts & Beyond, the American Friends Service Committee Healing Justice Program New England, Cushman D. Anthony Charitable Giving Fund at Maine Initiatives, Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy, Wabanaki Public Health, Donna Gann, Anne Funderburk, Neil Rolde, & Diana Scully. -30-
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:05:56 +0000
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