Join Wabanaki REACH in collaboration with the Bowdoin College Library on April 22, 2026 for an archive opening & discussion about the history of the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act & our most recent truth-telling initiative: Beyond the Claims. This oral history project will soon be available on Bowdoin Digital Collections. Beyond the Claims provides critical insight into the human implications of the legislation, while amplifying the voices of those directly impacted by the Act and preserving their stories for cultural continuity. 

Our truth-telling project Beyond the Claims– Stories from the Land & the Heart engaged folks from Wabanaki and Maine communities in deep conversations from 2021-2024. We interviewed people with diverse experiences and perspectives, including Wabanaki elders, Tribal Chiefs, legislators, lawyers, commissioners as well as poets, culture keepers, and families impacted by the Maine Indian land claims and MICSA for generations. We have found the personal oral history interview to be a powerful conduit for truth-telling and healing, a great illuminator of the past and the present, and a thoughtful tool to help us shape our shared future.          

3:00 - 4:30 pm Photo & Oral History Exhibition: Wikhikonol | Hawthorne-Longfellow Library basement: 5 College St, Brunswick, ME 04011

• A selection of photographs by Nolan Altvater & Maya Tihtiyas Attean
• Beyond The Claims books for sale

4:30 - 5:30 pm BTC Opening Program | Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center: 239 Maine St, Brunswick, ME 04011

• Welcome & Remarks: Kat Stefko
• BTC Opening Remarks & Panel Facilitator: Maria Girouard
• Panelists:
  • Kate Russell, BTC Project Coordinator
  • Juanita Grant, BTC Story Gatherer
  • Darrell Newell, Story Provider
• Audience Q&A

5:30 - 6:30 pm Reception | Lancaster Lounge, Moulton Union: 6 Campus Rd S, Brunswick, ME 04011

Photograph on graphic by Nolan Altvater