Two members of the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, gkisedtanamoogk and Dr. Gail Werrbach, with Esther Attean, right
For the thousands Native American children in Maine who were taken from their families to be raised in institutional schools or white homes, the trauma “was in the taking,” according to social worker, activist and Passamaquoddy tribal member Esther Attean.
Attean recently visited Bowdoin’s campus, with a few others, to speak about the history of this abusive, and largely unknown, child welfare practice and what is being done to address it.
Members of Maine’s Native American nations — the Passamaquoddy, the Penobscot, the Maliseet and the Micmac — have been working with state officials to build a special commission, the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Maine is the first state in the country to initiate a process of truth and reconciliation with its indigenous communities. Read the full story.
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