Foreword

by

James Eric Francis, Sr.

Tribal Historian

Penobscot Nation

In Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, geographer Yi-Fu Tuan puts forth the equation, "space plus culture equals place." Tuan's equation can appropriately be applied to the landscape of the Penobscot Bay region, a space that has little soul or spirit apart from the cultures that have occupied it. No land or region can be fully seen as a place without acknowledging the human element. In At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs, William Haviland weaves a narrative, not just of the space of Deer Isle and adjacent towns, but of a place with heart, soul, and spirit of the cultures that called this place home.

Haviland's training as an anthropologist by itself is not important as a qualification to write a book about a place in Maine. As a scholar Haviland understands history and the people of that place, but more important is the fact that Haviland has deep roots in Deer Isle. The qualification to author a text about a place is a connection to that place. Haviland is unique in that he is a scholar who not only is studying an area and the people there, but his life experience has been shaped by that place and how he perceives it. Haviland's own culture as an American, a Mainer, a scholar with a lifetime connection to Deer Isle all weave together in the tale of a place in Maine and the Native American population that occupied that area over time. Although Haviland is not a Native American, his unique perspective and open-mindedness have crafted a narrative that honors the Maine Native American Wabanaki who have historically occupied this place.

In recent years published stories and histories about the Wabanaki have increased in number. Wabanaki is a term translated as "People of the Dawn," and collectively refers to the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot people who now occupy Maine and the Maritimes and have done so for thousands of years. Although this narrative focuses on Wabanaki people, the geography (place) plays a crucial role in the text.

For thousands of years Wabanaki people adapted their culture to the environments in which they lived. In Maine this environment included coastal lands and islands, as well as inland forests, lakes, and ponds. But the environment is not just limited to the physical space around the culture. The social spaces also have a profound influence on Wabanaki culture. The largest and undoubtedly most difficult adaptation for the Wabanaki was the adaptation to the non-Native American culture that dominates the landscape today. In the face of this foreign culture, Maine Native Americans adapted, survived, and retained a distinct cultural identity in their homeland. This book tells that story in one particular place, Eastern Penobscot Bay.

Today the Maine Native Americans occupy four reservations in Maine. The Maliseet have a community in Houlton, the Micmac in Presque Isle, the Passamaquoddy near Princeton and Perry, and the Penobscot near Old Town. These reservations are only a fraction of a fraction of the ancestral territory of Wabanaki people in Maine.

Areas that are not currently occupied by Wabanaki people still hold stories of Wabanaki occupation. Often these stories are part of the history of colonization and history of Maine. Other times it comes to us in the form of oral traditions handed down from generation to generation. In my study of Wabanaki places in Maine and the Maritimes, I have looked closely at the Wabanaki place names that remain on the landscape. Names such as Passadumkeag, Chesuncook, Penobscot, Kennebec, and Norridgewock, just to name a few, offer us a window into the past of how the ancestors of modern Wabanaki people saw, used, and traveled the land. Place names can be categorized into three groups: First, a geographic or geologic description can be seen in the place name. Secondly, there is land use, or a resource-based description of an area. Lastly, are the legend-based place names. These tend to reinforce the first two categories, but are conveyed through oral story or legend. One such legend is called "Klooscap and the Moose." Read on...