On this Indigenous People's Day, Acadia acknowledges its multi-year project with the Wabanaki Nations of Maine on traditional gathering of sweetgrass within the park. The interdisciplinary work focuses on Wabanaki stewardship approaches through centuries of learned Indigenous knowledge, as well as cultural protocols to assert Indigenous sovereignty within natural and cultural resource management on ancestral lands. This research project aims to provide a template of culturally appropriate engagement between Native American gatherers and national parks. The results of the project have proven how effective incorporation of Indigenous knowledge can be, how plant gathering has a positive impact on the plant colonies when gathered in a culturally appropriate traditional manner, and how beneficial it is to include this knowledge at the initial stages of a project.
Principal investigators for the project include (from left) Suzanne Greenlaw, citizen of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, PhD candidate in Forestry, University of Maine, and Dr. Michelle Baumflek, Research Ecologist, U.S. Forest Service. (Photo by Will Newton, Friends of Acadia)
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