Support and Commitment to Wabanaki Nations

Schoodic Institute is located in Acadia National Park at Schoodic Point, homeland of the Wabanaki, People of the Dawn.

We recognize and respect Wabanaki relations past and present with Schoodic Point and the surrounding waters. We support the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq Nations as they continue to practice and renew their cultural traditions and identities in Acadia and beyond. Honoring Wabanaki sovereignty benefits all who live here, today and in the future.

Historically, Schoodic Point was home to Wabanaki families who harvested fish, clams, sea birds, and mammals in both the distant and recent past. Today, Schoodic Point remains an important place for Wabanaki families, and a place for cultural events and community gatherings and meetings between Wabanaki governments and the National Park Service.

As a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, we have a unique role to play in supporting the government-to-government relationship of Wabanaki Tribes and the U.S. Department of Interior. Our role includes supporting Wabanaki scientists conducting research in Acadia on behalf of their communities. We have much to learn from them, and from holders of traditional ecological knowledge, about the environmental changes and human responses that are the focus of our research and education programs.

As part of our commitments, we intend to:

  • Highlight the importance of Acadia to the Wabanaki, and of Wabanaki people to Acadia.
  • Communicate that our campus and surrounding lands are the homeland of the Wabanaki.
  • Make our campus available for Wabanaki community gatherings.
  • Increase and expand collaboration with (and funding for) Wabanaki scientists and students conducting research about our changing environment.
  • Include Wabanaki perspectives in our Board of Directors and/or as Advisors to our Science & Education Committee.
  • Be intentional and inclusive in our communication of science and conservation history.
  • Support a stronger conservation movement in Maine that reflects and centers Wabanaki history and Indigenous perspectives.