Tribes work with conservation organizations to reacquire lands

For the past few years, the Wabanaki nations in Maine, working with conservation organizations, have been undertaking a deliberate process for increasing access to and ownership of lands in the state in order to practice their culture. As part of that effort, the Passamaquoddy Tribe has reacquired parcels of significance to the tribe in Washington County, such as the shoreline in Machiasport with petroglyphs drawn by their ancestors, and is working to gain access to other sites, including an ancestral canoe portage trail between Cobscook and Machias bays. In addition to completed projects, there are currently 11 land return projects totalling more than 50,000 acres under way across the state, which will be one of the largest returns of private land in the history of the U.S.

For the Wabanaki people, the natural world is based on relationships of trust, not possession or ownership. "It's about living in relation to the land as a teacher," says Tony Sutton, a Passamaquoddy member of the planning team for the Wabanaki Commission for Land and Stewardship, of the importance of the efforts by the tribes to reconnect with the land. While non-Indigenous people may look at what they can get from the land or how they can use it for their benefit, Sutton says Indigenous people consider how they listen to the teachings of the land. "They're not just looking at trying to acquire land and plant ash trees on it but rather are looking at what the land is offering."

"Each land return fits into some view of the land," with all of them restoring relations to the land, Sutton says. Those relationships can include caretaking of a watershed, providing gathering places for forming social bonds, holding ceremonies or teaching youth, all specific to the different lands.

Donald Soctomah, who is a member of the commission and is the Passamaquoddy Tribe's historic preservation officer, says, "These acquisitions are bringing important sites back to the tribe that allow the tribe to take care of the land and allow the tribe to utilize the land for cultural and traditional purposes." The acquisitions "are helping the community to go back to the site and learn the history and the importance of all of these sites," both over thousands of years and in more recent times, too. "It's a good opportunity for the tribe to restore cultural activities," Soctomah observes, stressing that the acquisitions happen only with willing sellers. "We want to protect the sites for as long as possible."

Tribes and conservation organizations working together

While under the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act the Passamaquoddys and the Penobscots had each been guaranteed that they could acquire 150,000 acres of land in the state that would be held in trust for the tribes by the U.S. Department of the Interior, neither tribe ended up purchasing more than 100,000 acres.

Then beginning in late 2017 representatives of Maine's land trust and conservation organizations began working with the four Wabanaki nations to repair relationships, grant legal access, share and return land. These efforts led in 2019 to the formation of the Wabanaki Commission for Land and Stewardship, which has two representatives from each of the tribes in Maine. Its mission is "to improve the health and well‑being of Wabanaki people through a sustained effort to expand access, management and ownership of lands to practice our land‑based cultures across Wabanaki homeland in what is now the State of Maine." The Wabanaki tribes support the mission by acquiring lands and co‑managing land that is currently owned by conservation organizations. The tribes work to bring a Wabanaki perspective into the conservation movement through partnerships and education. The commission works with First Light, which is "a collective of non‑Native land‑oriented organizations working to relearn the stories of these lands, recenter Wabanaki voices and return land, money and decision‑making authority to Wabanaki communities."

The effort by the Wabanaki nations is different from the Land Back movement in the U.S. in which tribes are reclaiming ancestral lands and restoring tribal sovereignty and also is not related to a recent report by the Maine Center for Economic Policy that suggests Maine should return lands, including Baxter State Park and Acadia National Park, to the tribes.

"What is happening in Maine is very unique because the land conservation policies are unique," says Sutton, noting that there are specific conditions that allow the reacquisition of lands by the tribes to occur in the state. He points out that the conservation community in the state has been very supportive of tribal sovereignty and has created conditions where land return can occur with few if any restrictions on how the land is cared for.

Specific projects outlined

Land projects that have been completed so far range from ones that create physical access to harvesting places to others that reacquire sites that are sacred to the tribes.

Sutton says co-management of lands with conservation organizations is possible, and he notes that the conservation partners are supportive of the efforts by the tribes and provide resources and help raise funds for reacquiring lands. "Our partners do what they can to empower our vision."

He observes that, for the different nations in Maine, what the land offers will be different. For the Penobscot Nation, Sugar Island, which was purchased by First Light and returned to the tribe in June 2024, is one example of what land back means. The island hosts cultural activities and programs, such as medicinal plant teachings, place names and cultural history programs and activities on how canoes and shelters are made from birchbark.

In 2021 the Passamaquoddy Tribe reacquired Kuwesuwi Monihq or Pine Island, a historically significant island in Big Lake, after it was effectively lost for 160 years due to broken treaties and colonial land seizures. The tribe partnered with First Light and The Nature Conservancy to buy back the island, restoring a sacred place used by ancestors for survival and cultural identity. Soctomah notes that tribal guides now explore the island and families spend time there.

That same year, another parcel, the former Eastern Surplus Superfund site Meddybemps, was reacquired by the tribe. The location, known as N'tolonapemk or "Our Relatives' Place," has historical significance as an ancient fishing and travel area with archaeological evidence of Native use for more than 8,600 years. The 3.2-acre parcel, which had been used for dumping toxic military waste, was returned by the state to the tribe and is now a park, with recovered artifacts being safeguarded at the Abbe Museum.

Another recent Passamaquoddy acquisition includes shoreline in Machiasport with the petroglyphs that were drawn on the rocks thousands of years ago by ancestors of the tribe. The tribe already owned four acres there and recently acquired six additional acres by working with Maine Coast Heritage Trust. "It's an important site for the tribe to study the petroglyphs," Soctomah says. While tours are given for school groups to explain the cultural significance of the petroglyphs, as part of the effort to teach the next generations so they will take better care of the lands, he notes that the tribe is not prepared for visitors coming to the site.

Along with the commission's completed projects, there are 11 current projects for which funds are being raised and which are referred to as the Tributary Land Returns. These projects will result in the return of more than 50,000 acres to tribes. The effort demonstrates a level of coordination involving numerous conservation organizations and tribal communities that is unprecedented in the U.S. and offers a new paradigm of what land return can look like.

Two of the Tributary Land Returns are to the Passamaquoddy. One tract that has been reacquired is a 140-acre waterfront parcel on Patten Pond, near Talmadge in northern Washington County, that abuts lands already held by the tribe at Motahkomikuk. Soctomah notes that the parcel can be used for hunting and fishing and also has a stand of sugar maples that the tribe may tap in the future.

The other land return is in process and includes frontage on several streams and lakes that are part of a traditional Wabanaki canoe route between Cobscook and Machias bays. The parcel could support cultural use and recreational and economic development. Soctomah says that the tribe is seeking to recreate the traditional Orange River portage trail that went between the two bays. "We'd like to bring the portage route back so more people can have the opportunity to do the traditional canoe route." Restoring the route could involve easements and not necessarily land acquisitions. Soctomah says that the route was used by Passamaquoddys as a way to go from different tribal villages without canoeing on the ocean when the water was rough. A map drawn in the 1790s by Chief Francis Joseph Neptune shows the portage route.

Fund provides support

To help tribal citizens gain access to and rebuild relationships with the land, the commission has established a fund called Wolankeyutomone Kisi Apaciyewik or "let us take good care of what has been returned" to provide support to Wabanaki tribal governments, organizations and citizens. The fund is not for land acquisition but rather for restoring land relations through cultural or language programs or bringing youth onto the lands. "There are barriers to accessing those lands," Sutton notes, and the funds are used to remove those barriers and support restoring relationships to the land.

Among the groups that received funding grants in 2025 is the Sipayik Environmental Department, which is seeking to bring Passamaquoddy youth and tribal citizens together through canoeing and greater involvement with traditional uses of lands and waterways. They are working with Passamaquoddy language speakers and other cultural knowledge carriers to share histories, teach canoeing safety practices and organize canoe trips across Passamaquoddy homelands.

Geo Soctomah Neptune and Matthew Dana II, both of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk, also received funding. Neptune will create a maker's space and longhouse-style ceremonial teaching lodge to host apprenticeships and workshops and provide a space for open ceremonial and spiritual services. Dana seeks to have youth learn about traditional hunting, fishing and gathering and have them harvest up to 500 pounds of animal protein, including moose, deer, muskrat and fish, which will be shared with elders and community members.