INDIAN ISLAND, Maine — An unsettling piece of Maine’s history will be examined closely during the next three years by five people selected to investigate church and government assimilation practices that tore American Indian children away from their families and culture.
Members of the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission were announced Tuesday during a news conference on Indian Island, and their work will begin early next year. The members are:
• Matt Dunlap of Old Town, who on Dec. 4 was tapped to serve as Maine’s secretary of state, a post he also held from 2004 to 2010. He was named Maine Public Administrator of the Year in 2008 and served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives.
• Gkisedtanamoogk, a Wampanoag from the community Mashpee on Cape Cod, Mass. He is a family member of Nkeketonseonqikom, the Longhouse of the Otter, and is married with three children. Now of Orono, gkisedtanamoogk has been an adjunct instructor with the Native American studies and the peace and reconciliation programs at the University of Maine since 2005.
• Gail Werrbach, a 25-year faculty member at the University of Maine School of Social Work. She now is director of that school. She has researched and published articles on child mental health, community mental health training, Indian child welfare services and international social work.
• Sandra White Hawk, a Sicangu Lakota adoptee from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She founded the First Nations Repatriation Institute, an organization with the goal of creating resources for First Nations people affected by foster care who want to return home, reconnect and reclaim their identity.
• Carol Wishcamper has an organizational development consulting practice that works primarily with nonprofit organizations in the state. She has served as chairwoman of the state Board of Education and as a member of several gubernatorial and legislative study commissions.
The goal, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission mandate, which Gov. Paul LePage signed in June 2012 alongside Maine tribal leaders, is to “acknowledge the truth, create opportunities to heal and learn from that truth, and collaborate to operate the best child welfare system possible for Wabanaki children.”
Beginning in the late 1800s, the United States government established boarding schools for Native American children who were removed from their families in an attempt to assimilate them into American culture.
In the late 1950s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Child Welfare League of America created the Indian Adoption Project, which removed Native American children from their families and tribes to be adopted by non-native families.
In 1999 the Wabanaki tribal nations joined with state child welfare officials to form the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the goal of improving Maine’s compliance with 1978’s federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which set higher standards of protection for the rights of native children, their families and their tribal communities.
The five commissioners, who were selected by a 13-member committee, will travel to visit members of Maine tribes affected by these child welfare policies. They will gather documents, recordings and transcripts for preservation and make recommendations for improvements to the child welfare system. The commission will file a report on its final findings.
This is the first truth and reconciliation effort in the United States, according to the commission. Canada has its own under way.
Werrbach said the commission faces difficult, emotional work. It will be asking people to “open their hearts, open their souls, and tell their stories” about welfare policies that separated their families and subjugated their culture, Werrbach said, adding that she felt honored to “bear witness to that.”
Gkisedtanamoogk said he hopes the commission’s work will help to renew and strengthen the relationship between the state of Maine and the sovereign tribes that live within its borders.
“This work represents the possibilities of putting the relationship with the state and Wabanaki Nations on a footing that should have been the relationship all along — as partners,” gkisedtanamoogk said.
Just for one timeline for example. When Angus King was Governor he took advantage of federal laws that paid States good money to put Children in Foster Care.. Angus found this to be a very nice revenue generator for the state.. It was a big issue back then. This is how States got millons in federal dollars.. Not just natives, They liked taking cute children because they were easy to place.
Why not examine why that had to be taken in the first place. Truth hurts in the short term, but helps.
Money is the reason for 99% of it. that is the truth your looking for, its right there.
Are you so sure, any chance it might be for the sake of the child, ‘child welfare’ ?
And if it is all about the money as you say why then is it only an atrocity if it is a Red, Black, Yellow or Brown child ? No doubt we got money involved in the issues, but from what side. In other words who stands to profit the most.
Yeah, and the children, well, they can be damned eh..
No this IS all about money. If you go to the border of Passadumkeag and Greenbush on Rt 2 you will find a long driveway that leads to two massive houses and an indoor horse riding facility. Gkisedtanamoogk was in on that as well. They were starting a summer camp for native american kids that was going to teach them about their heritage and whatnot. It never came to fruition but they sure spent a lot of money and lived pretty high off the hog until the people funding it pulled the plug when they figured out they were getting duped.
It was a revenue gererator for the dept of human services in Maine. It made the state millons durning the agus days.. The Federal government looked into how funding was allocated back then because the Federal dollars given to States were By the Head dollars.. The more people you had in the system the more money the feds gave the States.. I don’t know if they ever fixed it. It was all about federal dollars and since the natives voices were barely heard it was like a money pit…
If the state takes custody of a Native American child they get federal dollars for that child. That is not the case with a child of any other ethnicity.
I was taken away at birth because my racist white grandfather wanted nothing to do with “that black b*astard’s baby.”
It’s all about money!!!
[…] relationship all along — as partners,” gkisedtanamoogk said.
Color me naive when it comes to one-named first nations people, but should “gkisedtanamoogk” be capitalized?
That was driving me nuts too!
Already some good has come of it! Hope and communication:
“Gkisedtanamoogk said he hopes the commission’s work will help to renew and strengthen the relationship between the state of Maine and the sovereign tribes that live within its borders.
“This work represents the possibilities of putting the relationship with the state and Wabanaki Nations on a footing that should have been the relationship all along — as partners,” gkisedtanamoogk said.”
The objectives behind the commission are extremely important and should have been undertaken years ago. It seems the commission should have a broader membership instead of concentrating on individuals from academia who should be serving as sources of information. I also think that a majority of the commission should be Tribal members from Maine Tribes who have experienced hardships associated with the foster adoption program. A three year period seems much too long to complete this type of historical documentation since the conclusions should be quite obvious and immediate. Gov. Lepage should be commended for his initiative to gain some accountability from ill-conceived past practices and policies.
As I read this, the function of this research is to find people who were not raised 100% within the tribes. And most of these people were subjected to estrangement prior to 1978? What are we going to do with these estranged people…who are probably older than 34 years… to make things right by teaching them language and culture? Are we building tribal numbers, including the offspring of these people? Would there be a money settlement? What? I thought if tribal members cared about the days they missed on tribal land, they would return. Im all for recognizing ones heritage, but miss the point here.
What exactly is the point of this?
Over a hundred years ago this was done with good, albeit misguided, intentions.
The only real hope for the continued life of the Native American peoples is to assimulate into the fabric of the society. The Hunter/Gatherer way of life is no longer viable.
We whites have done many things in the past that are regretable but they can not be undone. The best that we can do is to admit errors and try to keep the errors from being repeated.
Yeah and help those that were hurt to heal, NOT to be further ridiculed!