Throughout the spring, staff at the Natural Resources Council of Maine participated in a multi-day training hosted by Wabanaki REACH, an organization dedicated to supporting the self-determination of Wabanaki people. The training, called “Decolonizing Conservation Communities,” was an incredible opportunity for our staff to learn more about the history of the land and waters of Maine that were stolen from Wabanaki people, and understand more deeply the concepts and impacts of continuing colonization and decolonization.
We discussed the role that conservation communities play in continuing colonization, and were given tools and strategies for repair, healing, and identifying opportunities to shift to a culture of decolonization. Throughout the training, one thing became clear: decolonization is imperative, ongoing, and needs to be incorporated into all facets of our work and organization.
Each of our staff had their own takeaways from the training, and we wanted to share a few here as a small step toward healing and change. We are so incredibly thankful to Wabanaki REACH and its staff for leading us through this process and are looking forward to continuing our work toward decolonization.
Toby Kilgore, Grants Manager
The Wabanaki REACH training was such a rich personal and professional experience! Something that has stuck with me is the series of questions we came back to several times in the training: Who has the control and power to decide? What is the impact of the action? Who benefits from (and who is harmed) by the action?
It’s very present for me that NRCM has an opportunity to create a new framework for making decisions that requires asking and answering these important questions. By repeating that process, I feel we will all become more empathetic, and our work will make an even greater positive difference.
It’s also present for me how language in our country is so deeply rooted in colonization that we may not even react to harmful and violent phrases that stereotype and dehumanize native people. It’s been shocking and embarrassing to realize I need to completely retrain my ears and brain to uphold my personal values of treating people with kindness and dignity. Common phrases like “bury the hatchet,” “off the reservation,” and “let’s pow wow” are painful reminders of oppression. I’m working hard to catch and change my own language, and I’m asking colleagues to help me in that process. It’s essential to be better.
Kristin Jackson, Digital Outreach Manager
I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this training that expanded the way I think and gave me a deeper understanding of our collective history. As you can imagine, at times the content of the training was challenging – hearing about the genocide and colonization committed by our ancestors and grappling with our own roles in continued colonization.
But despite the difficult subject matter, the training left me with hope for the future. The facilitator, Heather Augustine, told us a story – which was incredible and I won’t do it justice in retelling here – but the moral was that at a time in her life when she was feeling defeated, she was told that you write the next chapter. And yes, while there are terrible things in our history, now, we have a chance to write the next chapter.
I’ve taken that wisdom with me, about how I, and NRCM, have a role in writing the next chapter, and we can prioritize decolonization in our work and our lives, and advocate for sovereignty and justice for the Wabanaki people.
Diana Jadge, Donor Engagement Coordinator
The Wabanaki REACH training provided a refreshing framework to take an honest look at one’s work, reflect, and equip participants (myself included) with a decolonizing lens with which to move forward. The training in its entirety was an incredibly powerful experience. Though what stuck with me was the metaphor given at the conclusion of the training – that these 12 hours spent in learning, discussion, and hands-on activities is an initial step, a “prepping of the soil.” An important reminder that this training is simply just the start. Now that our “soil is prepped,” we can plant the seeds, tend to them, help them grow, and eventually thrive. It is this process that will make – and ensure – that our efforts are truly decolonizing. I am grateful for this deeper understanding and the tools I am now equipped with to apply to my personal and professional life.
Allison Wells, Senior Director, Communications
I thought I knew the impacts of colonization on the Wabanaki people. I had done a lot of reading. I had had discussions with others who shared my desire to be informed. I had watched the movie Dawnland when it had originally aired on Maine Public television and seen other TV programs about how children had been removed from their Wabanaki families and placed in white foster homes.
And then I, with my NRCM colleagues, participated in the Wabanaki REACH training. This deep dive into the subject matter—with stories, videos, discussion, role playing, and so much more—was transformative for me. Hearing first-person stories from the facilitator, a Wabanaki herself, moved the issue from my head to my heart. Broken promises. Broken families. Broken system of justice. All of that shifted from a compartment in my intellect and became real. I was deeply moved by details shared not only by REACH staff but by my NRCM colleagues—it was so meaningful to see in their faces and hear in their voices a desire to be provide allyship. But I was completely taken off guard by an exercise in which each of us, one at a time or by twos and threes, disappeared from the Zoom screen due to assigned causes inflicted by colonizers—smallpox, starvation, removal from the family. For us, it was a kind of role playing; for the Wabanaki people, it is a horrific part of their history.
All of that injustice was a lot to take in, yet this training came without finger pointing. Each session was welcoming, and each participant could engage at a level of their own comfort. Questions were invited, and there was no such thing as a bad one. Grace. That’s a word that comes to mind quickly when I think about the Wabanaki REACH training. For anyone, or any group thinking about engaging in this training, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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