The property owners on Redskin’s Drive have sent a letter to the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen requesting to change their private road name from Redskin’s Drive to Micmac Drive.
The letter signed by Sara Harvey, Michael Harvey, and Jeff Fortier said, “To avoid any further conflict or potential lawsuits with the Indian tribes in the state we give our consent, but would like to just continue to show our pride in the Indian heritage in the road that leads to our home by using our father’s, our grandfather’s and our great-grandfather’s side of our Indian heritage as the road name.”
Last month the property owners asked the selectmen to approve a name of the road for 911 purposes. The two families on the road submitted five choices for the board’s consideration, their first choice being Redskin’s Drive. The other choices were Winchester Drive, Shotgun Alley, Black Widow Lane, and Remington Drive.
Selectman Ben Rines made a motion to name the road Redskin’s Drive. The motion carried 3-1-1. Selectmen Pam Dunning opposed the motion and Jeff Slack abstained.
Earlier this month, Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Frances and James Sappier, former chief and current Penobscot Elder Council member, sent a letter to three of the Wiscasset selectmen asking them to overturn their decision allowing a private road in town be named “Redskin’s Drive” because of the negative connotations of the word.
The request to change the name of the private road is expected to be on the selectmen’s agenda at their next meeting Tuesday, Oct. 7.
