This important gathering is supported by a grant from Elmina B. Sewall Foundation and other generous donors inside Maine who believe in the promise of this collaboration.
Along with you, special guests will include Charles Sams of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. Chuck is Cayuse, Walla Walla, Cocopah, and Yankton Sioux who founded Indian Country Conservancy, a national non-profit dedicated to re-acquiring conservation lands taken from tribes during the allotment and termination eras. He continues the work of bringing land back into trust for tribal nations in order to protect both sovereign rights and natural resources.
We are also honored to be joined by Mashpee Wampanoag elder, Ramona Peters, former Historic Preservation Officer for the Wampanoags and founder and director of the Native Land Conservancy of Cape Cod. Ramona and her community are the first east of the Mississippi to use a cultural respect agreement to grant access from a land trust to a Native community for the purpose of harvesting resources and holding ceremony.
We would be honored by your participation.
Sincerely yours,
The Building Collaboration planning team:
Donald Soctomah, Maria Girouard, Darren Ranco, Deb Bicknell, Peter Forbes, Ciona Ulbrich
Agenda for the Building Collaboration Gathering
Peter Forbes's Opening Remarks