The Passamaquoddy people were granted ownership of Pine Island after they supported colonists during the Revolutionary War, but later generations reneged on the promise.
Boston Public LibraryChief Neptune of the Passamaquoddy kin group in 1921 .
Native people in the United States have lost 1.5 billion acres of land since 1776 . But one kin just got some of their country back . The Passamaquoddy buy Pine Island in Maine , where , once , their people be for 10,000 twelvemonth .
“ The country was stolen from us and it ’s been every chief ’s goal ever since to return it,”said chief William Nicholas .
Boston Public LibraryChief Neptune of the Passamaquoddy tribe in 1921.
The island , called White ’s Island by European settler , and Kuwesuwi Monihq , or Pine Island , by the Passamaquoddy , sit in Big Lake , a soundbox of water near the Passamaquoddy reservation . Tribal members have long tried to recover the farming . But it was n’t until Nicholas see that the island was for sale that they were able to pretend .
An online post on privateislandsonline.com described Pine Island in glowing terms . “ [ It ’s ] a unparalleled dimension … engross in history … with only two owners in the last 95 twelvemonth , ” purred the site .
In fact , the island had had a premature owner — the Passamaquoddy , who subsist on Pine Island for at least 10,000 years , until the 1860s .
Wikimedia CommonsA mannequin showing how the Passamaquoddy lived in the 1500s. They inhabited Pine Island for 10,000 years.
Wikimedia CommonsA mannequin showing how the Passamaquoddy lived in the 1500s . They inhabited Pine Island for 10,000 years .
dictated to buy the island , Nicholasreached out to First Light , a group of land confidence , timber company , philanthropic gift , and preservation groups that works with Maine clan to help them withhold lost farming .
With their help , the tribe raise $ 355,000 and bought back the island .
Donald Soctomah/Passamaquoddy TribeTwo men of the Passamaquoddy tribe.
“ This is like finding a miss congener , ” said Donald Soctomah , the kindred ’s historical conservation officer .
But , as First Light member Peter Forbes take down : “ If the land had n’t been steal , they would n’t need to buy it back in the first place . ”
Indeed , the saga of Pine Island ’s stealing date back to 1794 . Then , after the Passamaquoddy supported American colonists during theRevolutionary War , the colonists officially designated the island as tribal territory .
“ The role of the Passamaquoddy in securing triumph in the Revolutionary War was recognized by George Washington who write a letter to Chief Neptune in 1776 thanking the Passamaquoddy and exclaim a ‘ assurance of friendship,”states the Passamaquoddy tribal history .
Donald Soctomah / Passamaquoddy TribeTwo men of the Passamaquoddy tribe .
But in 1820 , Maine became a state . And Americans quick evacuate the previous pact and took the island for themselves .
Although the tribe tried to maintain a presence on the island , settlers made it hard . One military man set flack to the island after the Passamaquoddy refused to give him cranberries they ’d harvested . And the tribe lived under the constant concern of diseases like smallpox .
The state of Maine even illicitly sell the island — although the details of the transaction remain hazy . official changed the island ’s name to “ White ’s Island ” in the 1850s , possibly to get around any lurk legal obligations to the Passamaquoddy .
“ I mean it could then be sell because it was no longer listed by name on the accord documents , ” Soctomah said .
By 1860 , just 20 Passamaquoddy live on Pine Island . Ten years by and by , none of them did . And until the 2021 purchase of the island , no appendage of the Passamaquoddy had go under foot on Pine Island for 130 years .
Now , Pine Island is theirs once more — something that Soctomah calls “ an important stair for the tribe . ”
And organisation like First Light trust that it ’s an important first whole tone for other tribes , too .
“ We have a part in the systemic injustice that was inflicted on indigenous the great unwashed and therefore a obligation addressing that,”said Mark Berry , a forest director for the Nature Conservancy , which is a penis of First Light .
Forbes correspond . “ This is about proceed our heads down and concentrate tribal voices , ” he said . He add up that the purchase of Pine Island was “ just the beginning . ”
The Passamaquoddy purchase of Pine Island seems to be part of a larger figuring . In recent year , other tribes have succeeded in recuperate lost land . The Esselen tribe in California — formerly landless — bought 1,200 Accho with the help of a $ 4.5 million dollar contribution by conservationists . And in 2019 , the California city of Eureka returned Duluwat Island to the Wiyot kindred .
But for the Passamaquoddy , the return of Pine Island goes deeper than a financial transaction .
“ Our construct of land ownership is that nobody ‘ owns ’ solid ground , ” note Soctomah . “ Instead , we have a sacred duty to protect it . ”
After reading about this Native American kin group bought back their island , ascertain about the tragic story of theNative American genocidein the United States . Or , look throughEdward Curtis ’s arresting aboriginal American photos .
