If you are a settler in the state we call Maine you live on unceded land of the Wabanaki. We extend our respect and gratitude to the many Indigenous people and their ancestors whose rich histories and vibrant communities include the Abenaki, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations and all of the Native communities who have lived here for thousands of years; who were forcibly removed from their lands, and who live here still, in what is known today as Maine, New England, and the Canadian Maritimes. 

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We are sustained by these living lands and waters. We affirm the inherent sovereignty of the Wabanaki. This acknowledgement does not rectify the

on-going violence of settler colonialism, but is rather meant to cultivate an unsettling awareness of its persistence, towards building reconciliation which we recognize as we work for climate justice.

 

We can take a moment to reflect on how we might collectively liberate ourselves from the structural oppression and inequity inherent in the relationship between our predominantly white settler culture and those indigenous to this place, to the land and water itself, and to all beings who dwell here. We all have a responsibility to continue working to change the systems that continue to allow injustice and inequity to exist.