Grounding in place: First Light report from 'the Pines'

In early June the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship and invited guests from their communities gathered with First Light staff and members of the First Light Conservation Community Delegation. This multi-day gathering of shared meals, community circles, dialogue, and field trips has taken place each spring since 2019.

This year those attending were graciously welcomed to a place cared for and businesses run by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. Guests stayed at the Band’s newly opened Wolastoq Inn and Suites and Wilderness Pines Lodge and Campground. The Pines provided meeting spaces and sustaining meals at their Lodge and we were able to support the Band’s businesses and employees.

A Facebook post from the Houlton Band summarized the intention and goals of the Commission and First Light’s time together: 

“Discussions on what principles and processes the Commission uses to discern between many ongoing land offers to direct First Light's/non-native efforts around places to return;

How the Commission practices its principle of equity between all Wabanaki Nations and communities, across land return, access and funding;

What is needed to support dialogue and decision-making across Tribes so the Commission can guide land return in overlapping homelands; 

Discussing what tools could support the Commission and First Light's ability to be nimble and agile and equitable in its land return, given colonial land markets;

And spending time outside, visiting the Meduxnekeag River and Ash tree sites.”

During our days together we spent time on the land grounding ourselves in the unique geography of that place—strongly feeling the opportunities, challenges, and potential. During a visit to an ash stand along a nearby river we saw firsthand how generations of Wabanaki land care and harvest have nurtured the land—helping create a lush canopy and understory with towering ferns and spring ephemerals—and how the threat of emerald ash borer looms over the forest.  On a hot afternoon we walked together through a potential land return where we heard visions and hope for the future, growing in the woods and meadows around us.