Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, talks Thursday afternoon with Bates College history professor Joseph Hall at the Great Falls Forum at the Lewiston Public Library. Their talk was titled, “Wabanakis Then and Now.” Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Buy Image

LEWISTON — At its most basic level, a discussion Thursday about Maine’s indigenous people was about the progress that’s been made to ensure fair and equitable treatment, but that a lot of work remains.

Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, who has advocated for a range of legislation on tribal sovereignty, access to natural resources and more, recapped the work that’s been done to pull back more tribal rights and resources to the Penobscot Nation and other Maine tribes.

Wabanaki is the collective term for the Penobscots, Passamaquoddies, Mi’kmaqs, and Maliseets of Maine but also New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and eastern Quebec.

Bryant, the daughter of former Penobscot Nation Chief Barry Dana, has led successful efforts to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day and to officially ban sports teams from using Native American mascots. She told the crowd at the Great Falls Forum at the Lewiston Public Library that while the public discussions on those issues were difficult — including threats made against her — they also showed the progress that’s occurred in the relationship between Maine and its indigenous history.

Responding to a question regarding the process that led to Skowhegan dropping its Indian-themed mascot, Bryant said she felt lucky that she came into this type of advocacy work “at a time when I could be heard, which wasn’t always the case.”

She said her grandmother couldn’t vote in state elections until 1967.

“No one was inviting her to a room to hear her thoughts,” Bryant said, adding that the debate in Skowhegan was eye-opening. “It taught me a lot about how to successfully make change happen. You don’t just walk into a place and say, ‘I’m right and you’re wrong.’ Even if you’re right.”

Bryant took the helm of the Wabanaki Alliance in December, but had previously served as the first Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador from 2017-2024. In that role, she represented the Penobscot Nation at the local, state and federal levels of government. Bryant grew up on Indian Island within the Penobscot Nation’s reservation and graduated from the University of Maine in Orono with a degree in political science.

In 2022, Colby College awarded her an honorary doctorate for her work on equity issues and policy.

Bryant said because of her father, she had a close-up view of tribal issues from a young age, specifically ugly legal battles between the Nation and the Great Northern Paper Co. She said the “outcomes always felt unjust” and she realized much of the fight was about “land and territory, and how we measure resources and wealth.”

She said her opposition to Native American mascots stemmed from those issues.

“It wasn’t safe for us to be a people back then, but now people are allowed to use us as a costume?” she said. “People see them as different things, but it’s all about that power.”

But, she said, the support and passion from Maine people in recent years to support its indigenous history and culture has been growing.

People fill Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library on Thursday for the Great Falls Forum featuring Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, and Bates College history professor Joseph Hall. Their talk was titled “Wabanakis Then and Now.” Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Buy Image

“We’ve come such a long way,” she said. “I never would have thought we’d engage so much fire and spirit amongst Mainers to really care about these things.”

Bryant also detailed her progress and battles on more recent legislation to amend pieces of a 1980 settlement between the state and tribes, some of which has been vetoed by Gov. Janet Mills. She said a task force between tribal leaders and lawmakers came up with recommendations that resulted in a few pieces of legislation over the past few years. Bryant said Mills has “worked with us on some” and been “extremely resistant to others.”

Also speaking Thursday was Joseph Hall, a Bates College history professor who teaches courses on colonial North America and Native American history.

Hall said looking at history can reveal a lot about the present, and that the continued influence and presence of the Wabanaki in the region is “widespread.”

He said the current location of the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport was once a “phenomenal” hunting ground for caribou thousands of years ago. Historians know this from hunting tools and evidence of settlements at the site. Hall said the reason it’s worth remembering is because “there were people living here then.”

“In a state where people are proud to be a seventh generation Mainer, it’s worth thinking about,” he said, adding that for indigenous families that number could be almost incalculable.

Joseph Houston, director of the Lewiston Public Library, which hosts the forums, said Thursday’s forum was one of the most-attended in recent history.

Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, listens Thursday to Bates College history professor Joseph Hall at the Great Falls Forum at Lewiston Public Library. Their talk was titled “Wabanakis Then and Now.” Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal
Buy Image