INDIAN TOWNSHIP – Senior members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe have met with representatives of Washington County’s largest employer to talk about ways to protect a sacred burial ground on an island in Big Lake.

The 25-acre island is owned by Domtar Inc.’s pulp and paper mill in Baileyville. Big Lake is located near Princeton.

State tribal Rep. Donald Soctomah said many tribal members were sent to the island in the 1800s after they had contracted smallpox, because no treatment was available for them.

“Essentially, they were sent to the island to protect the rest of the tribe from the outbreak,” he said. And they died because of the lack of immunity and lack of medical treatment. Soctomah said hundreds perished.

After the scourge, remaining tribal members went to the island to bury the dead.

“The island is a very sacred spot to our tribe, and it is important to my people and me that we take proper steps to preserve and protect those burial grounds,” he said. “Each year, the tribal church conducts Mass on the island and blesses the grounds, and the tribe also conducts other ceremonies to honor our ancestors.”

Soctomah said the elders spoke with Domtar’s management team. He said the company indicated a willingness to work with the tribe. He also said he expects the tribe to continue talks with Domtar to develop a plan to protect and preserve the island.

Tom Howard, Domtar’s government relations director, confirmed that the two sides were talking “to identify any plans to help preserve and protect the island, particularly the burial grounds.”

Meanwhile, Soctomah said the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary voted 12-1 an “ought to pass” on a bill he submitted that would require that “any native remains” discovered be turned over to an intertribal repatriation panel.

Soctomah said the intertribal panel is the “appropriate organization of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Micmac and Maliseet tribes, to ensure that the remains are properly buried and provided all the respect they deserve.”

Soctomah has served as the Passamaquoddy representative to the Legislature since 1998.