Portland students are bursting with questions for Chris Sockalexis, an archeologist and member of the Penobscot Nation, one of the Wabanaki tribes in Maine.
“What kind of rock is best for making spearheads?”
“What do you use to cut down the trees?”
“What kind of shelters did you build?”
They sit in the woods on an island on a sunny Tuesday morning, the Portland skyline in the distance, as Sockalexis shows off stone tools and the natural landscape. He gives a brief overview of 20,000 years of Wabanaki history in 10 minutes, describing the ancient contours of the land, the shaping of stone arrowheads, woolly mammoth hunting, canoe-making, agriculture and trade.
All fourth-graders from Presumpscot and Longfellow elementary schools visited Mackworth Island in Falmouth on Tuesday to learn about that history, part of the district’s burgeoning effort to teach Wabanaki studies to all Portland students.
The Maine Legislature passed a law in 2001 requiring Wabanaki culture, history, tradition and government be taught in schools, but it didn’t include funding or curricular resources. In 2022, two decades after the original bill was passed, a group of organizations published a report that concluded the law was not widely enforced, and that Wabanaki history was not meaningfully integrated into schools. Within a year of that report, Portland rolled out a curriculum for a few grade levels, with plans to introduce more the following year.
Kindergarteners and third-graders were part of the initial wave of Wabanaki lessons, but Tuesday marked the first related field trip for fourth-graders. Passamaquoddy citizen Sandra Bassett kicked off the visit with an introduction in the Passamaquoddy language and a quick welcome song, played on the drum.
Then, students took a nature walk and visited three learning stations focused on Indigenous history and environmental literacy. They learned about the history of birch bark canoe-making from Sockalexis, and about the cultural significance of the canoe from Bassett.

Fourth-graders from Longfellow Elementary School walk the path around Mackworth Island while on a field trip to learn about Wabanaki history and culture. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Before the visit, students read the book “The Canoe Maker” by Passamaquoddy author and canoe-maker David Moses Bridges.
“What you’re learning in school about taking care, having a relationship with nature – that’s what this guy did. He had a relationship with the trees,” Bassett said about Bridges. “He just takes the barks off of the trees without killing it.”
She led students in a ritual, throwing loose tobacco into the water as an offering in exchange for the bark used in a canoe.
Bassett has been working with Portland schools on Wabanaki education for a couple of years and worked on the Passamaquoddy language program at the University of Southern Maine before that.
“I think they’re getting more than just a story, more than just ‘we were here,’ ” she said.
Bassett said she’s grateful for the Wabanaki curriculum that is available in Portland schools – where she has several grandchildren – but thinks there’s room for expansion, especially around the Wabanaki people who still live today.
“Wabanaki people are still here. Never mind our history – we have a rich history,” she said. “But just to let them know people are still here, they’re your neighbors. They’re in your neighborhood.”

Sandra Bassett, a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Nation, gives a lesson on traditional birch bark canoe-making to fourth-graders from Longfellow Elementary School during a field trip to Mackworth Island on Tuesday. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Katie West is the experiential learning and environmental literacy coordinator for the district. Her position was created after the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate more outdoor learning for students, and it was expanded to include other experiential learning like Tuesday’s trip. West said she appreciates how universal these experiences are for students.
“All fourth-graders came. All students in the entire district are having a shared experience,” West said.
Even if a student transfers schools, she said, they’ll still have those trips in common with their new peers.
“I’ve been told it’s the favorite day of students all year,” West said. “People say it brings the curriculum alive. Teachers notice that students who don’t really thrive in the classroom really thrive when they’re doing these experiential learning moments on field work.”

Fourth-graders from Longfellow Elementary School surround Chris Sockalexis, a member of the Penobscot Nation, as he discusses stone and bone tools during a field trip to Mackworth Island to learn about Wabanaki history and culture on Tuesday. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Juraij Muhammad, 9, was one of the enthusiastic questioners during Sockalexis’s presentation about archeology. He goes to Presumpscot Elementary and liked learning about the lives of Wabanaki people of the past.
“They can make canoes and make arrows and catch fish, do all that fun stuff,” he said. “It’s like an adventure.”
On the walk back to the school bus at the end of the trip, students counted birch trees in the forest and competed to find the most. By the time they reached the parking lot, keen students said they’d spotted more than 120.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.