The freedom to practice our culture in our ancestral homelands…
Our Mission
Bomazeen Land Trust enables the Abenaki/ Wabanaki people to renew and resume their land caretaking and stewardship roles for lands and waters with historical, spiritual, and ecological significance to the Abenaki/Wabanaki people.
Our primary purpose is the perpetual protection and healing of ancestral Wabanaki spaces through land return and reconnecting community members to ancestral lands. We seek to empower Wabanaki and BIPOC communities with land access, and we provide education to the general public about Wabanaki studies, history, and ongoing issues.
Rematriation
In Wabanaki culture, women are recognized as carriers of land and water wisdom: we are earth defenders. We often find ourselves on the frontlines of environmental defense, protecting our homelands from pollution, extraction, and theft. This is work that will not be completed in our lifetime: we do it for the future generations. We recognize the need for healing among Wabanaki people and all relations in our homelands, and we believe environmental and racial justice are intertwined.
Legacy
Bomazeen Land Trust was founded by Wabanaki citizens and community members whose ancestors were connected to the Kennebec River and western Maine.
Our namesake honors the Norridgewock Chief known by the English as “Bomazeen,” who was murdered among many others during the 1724 massacre led by English Captain Moulton. This massacre was part of a campaign to clear western Maine for white settlers and industry, and sent many Wabanaki families to take refuge in other tribal communities, especially within the Penobscot, Odanak, Wôlinak, and Passamaquoddy tribes that we call home today.
Education
We provide cultural outreach and education to Abenaki/Wabanaki communities about our historical, agricultural and medicinal traditions and language. We also provide some educational programs and outreach to the general public on Wabanaki history, current affairs and projects, and sustainable living and agricultural practices.
Collaboration
We collaborate with conservation groups, land trusts, and private landholders for:
land returns that are special and sacred to Abenaki/Wabanaki people and our other-than-human relatives
cultural use and land management, sharing, and transfer agreements
Activities
We rematriate Wabanaki land and provide safe places for our people to practice culture, including:
Ceremony
Food sovereignty
Protection of sacred sites
Protection of other-than-human relatives