Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will host a panel discussion Saturday, May 13, with six Wabanaki leaders as they discuss a growing movement to center Indigenous knowledge and leadership in conservation work. Dr. Darren J. Ranco, associate professor of anthropology and coordinator of Native American research at the University of Maine in Orono, will moderate this conversation prioritizing Indigenous leadership in conservation.
Dr. Darren J. Ranco helps lead a virtual seminar in November 2020 for the University of Maine’s Outdoor Leadership Program on acknowledging and raising awareness about Indigenous lands. Courtesy of the University of Maine
Last year, Ranco was the keynote speaker in the 12th Annual Ina and Lewis Heafitz Endowed Lecture. Educator, researcher and citizen of the Penobscot Nation, Ranco shared contemporary scholarship about Indigenous conservation practices and identified best practices for partnerships with environmental organizations and Indigenous peoples.
The May 13 discussion will focus on the interconnections of land, culture and Indigenous sovereignty, and includes a cross-disciplinary mix of Indigenous artists, writers, researchers, educators and historians, including Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy; Suzanne Greenlaw, Maliseet; Jennifer Neptune, Penobscot; Richard Silliboy, Mi’kmaq Nation; and Donald Soctomah, Passamaquoddy.
“We are honored to host such a distinguished group of guests all in one evening,” Daniel Ungier, the gardens’ vice president of guest experience and education, said in a prepared release. “We aspire not just to learn more about Wabanaki expertise but to better understand the barriers Wabanaki people face to exercising this expertise and to better understand our shared responsibility in addressing those barriers. We’re excited to invite the public to share in the learning together.”
The discussion is from 7-8:30 p.m. at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay. One hundred percent of proceeds from registrations will go to the Wabanaki Self-Determination Fund, a long-term, sustainable funding structure that the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship is currently creating, which is funded primarily by sustained commitments from non-Wabanaki people and organizations who work and dwell in Wabanaki homelands. Run entirely by and for Wabanaki people, it recognizes Wabanaki expertise and knowledge in identifying the best ways to use funds.
For more information and to register, visit mainegardens.org or call 633-8000. To learn more about the fund, visit firstlightlearningjourney.net/working-groups/fund.
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