Replacing Regionalism: Abenaki Tales and "Jewett's" Coastal Maine

Abstract

In 1980, the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians of Maine received an $81.5 million settlement from the federal government in exchange for abandoning claims to land in the state. On the one hand, the settlement was the largest Indian land claims victory of its kind in American history and included funds to repurchase 300,000 acres of land. On the other hand, the agreement-signed by then-President Jimmy Carter with a feather pen-was a compromise, as the Maine tribes had demanded the return of almost two-thirds of land in the state, which they argued had been taken from them illegally (Calloway 13, 95). From either perspective, however, the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act made one thing clear: despite centuries of attempted genocide, Maine Indians continue to live on tribal lands. Although the US government did not recognize Maine Indians as US citizens until 1924 (even then many refused-and some continue to refuse-US citizenship) and did not grant federal recognition to the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy until the 1980 settlement, Native peoples have always maintained land and cultural ties to the region.' Nor are the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy the only New England Indians reclaiming land and undergoing cultural and political resurgence: inspired by the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy case, the Mashantucket Pequots of eastern Connecticut successfully argued for federal recognition in 1983, established the hugely profitable Foxwoods Casino, and have since repurchased roughly 3,000 acres of land.2 Despite this, however, most readings of literary and the New England with which it is most often associated implicitly or explicitly consider the region in relation to a history in which this presence on the land has been long (though shamefully) annihilated or removed. Even recent, historically informed analyses of turn-of-the-century regionalism focus on the story of US national and international hegemony during this period, and