In what was described as a cultural exchange, members of Wiscasset High School student council took part in a daylong workshop with students of the Pleasant Point Indian reservation in the Washington County town of Perry on Nov 6.
The trip was part of an ongoing effort by the student council to fully explore the impact of the schools use of the term “Redskin,” a controversial symbol linked to the scalping of Native Americans in Colonial America. Most importantly, students said, it was a chance to interact directly with peers and put a face to the issue.
“It was kids talking to kids which created more understanding,” said Wiscasset High student Paige Teel.
The brainchild of Wiscasset educator Deb Pooler, the trip was designed to create meaningful, apolitical dialogue with members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe to diffuse the lightning rod of controversy the issue has created in the Wiscasset community.
In October, responding to a request from the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission to remove the image and term “Redskin” from the high schools athletic teams, the RSU 12 school board meeting asked Wiscasset high school to form a committee to decide what, if any, action should be taken.
“This is one way to confront the situation intelligently and remove the rhetoric,” Pooler said.
The exchange was modeled on a program entitled Help Increase the Peace (HIPP), a Quaker designed conflict resolution workshop used in prisons and schools nationwide. Denise Altavater, a Passamaquoddy educator and certified HIPP instructor, has used the program in a Washington County youth group comprised of Native and non-Native American teenagers.
“It’s an effective model for young people with the goal of having them adopt the principles and apply them to their lives, community, and everyday interactions,” said Altavater.
The day began with a traditional “smudge” ceremony performed by Passamaquoddy outreach member Newell Lewey who sang, in native dialect, a song of peace while the assembled audience members were individually “smudged” with tobacco smoke meant to cleanse the spirit. During the ceremony, Lewey asked each person to think of a problem in their lives and find a positive way to approach it.
The group was then broken up into pairs and asked to interview each other from a list of prepared questions. After 15 minutes of fact finding, each person took turns standing up and introducing their partner, by all accounts an intimidating though effective ice-breaking exercise.
From their interviews students from both schools noticed distinct similarities, a common love of pizza, and fundamental differences, most notably cultural heritage. After a communal lunch of lasagna, Pleasant Point student Danielle Altavator addressed the crowd with a short speech describing her experience as a Native American and how images of cartoon Indians make her feel less than whole.
“These depictions make me feel like I’ve disappeared because they are not me,” she said.
Lewey echoed her statements with an anecdote relating the mascot issue to witnessing a problem, in this case flat tires, and how once you acknowledge a harmful situation it creates a responsibility to change it.
“Once you know something, you can’t forget it. I urge all of you to reach outside of yourselves. In the case of the tires it’s up to you if you want to change them,” Lewey said.
The Pleasant Point Reservation is home to approximately 500 Sipayik members of the Passamaquoddy tribe. The small community lies on a picturesque stretch of Rt. 190 adjacent to Passamaquoddy Bay and a short five minute drive from Eastport, the eastern most town in the United States.
The Pleasant Point Reservation consists of its original 100 acres, plus 112 acres of annexed land authorized by the state. Sipayik, the primary Passamaquoddy village since 1770, is technically part of the greater area known as Pleasant Point. According to the website fourdirectionsmaine.org, the Reservation is governed by a six-member council, which is led by a governor and lieutenant governor.
The Indian Township and Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy tribal councils form the Passamaquoddy Joint Tribal Council which is responsible for issues that affect both groups, such as jointly owned businesses, tribal land issues, and trust responsibility concerns.
Since 1820 a tribal representative is elected every four years and sent to the Maine Legislature. Like many rural Maine communities, the Pleasant Point Reservation suffers from a higher than average rate of alcoholism. A 2004 University of Southern Maine study concluded that cirrhosis of the liver among the Passamaquoddys, attributed to alcohol abuse, was three times higher than the average rate of the general population. Comparably, the homicide rate among the Passamaquoddys was nearly seven times the state norm.
These factors along with a lack of qualified personnel to adequately handle the problems are a concern among the residents of Pleasant Point. During the workshop, current Passamaquoddy Tribal Governor Reubin Cleaves addressed the students with a call to action.
“We need our young people to become educated in specialized fields. We need doctors, engineers, and skilled personnel to come back and lead us into the next century,” he said.
The problems facing Passamaquoddy members were not lost on the Wiscasset council members who expressed surprise and sympathy at their situation. In peer groups at the end of the day, students from both schools highlighted the pros and cons of their respective communities.
Faculty members from Wiscasset, including principal Matt Carlson, were impressed by the students’ willingness to participate honestly and without prejudice.
“I’m really proud of all the students who gave up a Saturday to participate in this. Everyone was respectful, honest, and engaged. That was the point of the trip,” said Pooler.
Speaking two days after the workshop, Wiscasset student council members were not ready to say if the exchange will ultimately decide the fate of their mascot. Some, like Teel, found the experience to be more about common bonds rather than fundamental differences. The students exchanged Facebook information and Pooler has planned a trip to the Indian Island Reservation for later this month.
Ultimately the decision is in the hands of a committee consisting of students, community members, and faculty. For one weekend however, the issue was not about finger pointing or polarizing topics. It was simply young people navigating their way through adolescence complete with the familiar fixations teenagers tend to drift towards.
“I just hope there are cute girls,” said Pleasant Point student Isaac Sylibly casting an eye towards the parking lot moments before the Wiscasset students arrived.
