Tribe OKs ‘bold’ LNG plan Passamaquoddy opponents cite close vote, vow continued resistance

PLEASANT POINT – A favorable vote by the Passamaquoddy to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the reservation was called a “bold” move by tribal officials Tuesday night.

The vote was 193-132.

“This vote represented a very strong and brave move on the part of the Passamaquoddy community of Sipiyak. It takes a lot of courage to take a step like this into the future, and what we are doing is building something for our people to step through into the future,” tribal state Rep. Fred Moore said after the daylong nonbinding referendum vote.

Last month, Quoddy Bay LLC of Tulsa, Okla., an energy development partnership, announced a proposal to build a $300 million terminal on 42 acres of tribal land. The proposal estimates that as many as 1,000 jobs could be created during the construction phase and more than 70 full-time jobs once the facility is up and running.

Although the vote went against them, opponents of the measure vowed to fight on.

Tribal member Deanna Francis, who was with the protesters Tuesday, said that although her side lost, the number of voters who opposed the measure was significant.

“LNG is not coming into this community, that is all there is to it. The little people are on our side, and you watch. There are 132 strong families that are still ancestrally connected to who they are and to their children and to the seventh generation. That is important,” she said.

Francis said their strength came from those tribal elders from other Indian nations and from a belief in the traditional ways of the Passamaquoddy.

Francis said that when she learned of the proposed plan, she turned to elders from other Indian nations to serve as advisers. “Elders that were here were over 80 years old. They were old people that took the time to travel here to give us strength, to give us hope,” she said.

Those opposed to LNG turned to their traditional ways earlier this week, said Francis. “We started a sacred fire. It was going to go four days,” she said. “One of the elders had a dream. He dreamt that the little people came to him and told him that the fire would have to go for seven days and nights and that we could speak to the little people and they would help us, they would be here for us.”

Francis said that the little people showed themselves to her cousin. “So we stayed with the fire for seven days. After seven days we took the ashes and placed them around the community,” she said. “The little people are part of who we are as Passamaquoddy people.” They come to tribal members in times of need, and tribal members believe that the little people “give life” to the tribal members. “The little people told us this is not going to happen,” she added.

Francis was joined by her cousin, Vera Francis, who said no one – not even the tribal leadership – had the right to negotiate an LNG deal.

“My concern is that our own belief systems are at risk, that our own belief systems are now being sold and that is moving us closer every day towards genocide. When the very core of your belief is being ignored and being exploited, then there is something wrong,” she said.

Vera Francis said her group would like help from a national figure such as Teresa Heinz Kerry. “Our group would like to talk to Mrs. Kerry. She is the one who has demonstrated her interest and concerns and full-hearted commitment to indigenous rights and the further prevention of genocide.”

When asked if Francis’ group would like to speak with first lady Laura Bush, Francis responded, “No comment.”

Tensions were running high on the reservation. The chief of police spent most of the day at the polling place. While people streamed steadily into the tribal offices to vote, at least one member was turned away.

Polling officials told Georgia “Tuffy” Mitchell she could not vote Tuesday because she lived outside the tribe’s service area. Mitchell, who lives on the other side of the state, has been on the reservation for the past six months.

When Mitchell asked to speak to tribal Gov. Melvin Francis, she was told he had left. “He skipped out,” she said. “This is very disheartening. I am a full-blooded Indian woman, and I see people in there – some that are half [Indian] – and they are in charge of voting. That is very sad. Politics has [brought] great harm to us Passamaquoddy. I just pray that someday my rights will be given back to me.”

The Passamaquoddy were not alone in their protest of the LNG terminal Tuesday.

Veteran activist Nancy Oden of Jonesboro said she was standing in solidarity with the tribal members. She said people were being seduced by promises of money from the Oklahoma company. “I am here to save what is left. I believe we need to fight this all together,” she said. “We live here because we love it and we love the quality of life. If money is what we cared about, we should all move to New Jersey.”

Oden said she believes that they will be able to stop the company.

Fisherman Julie Keene of Trescott said she was concerned what impact an LNG terminal would have on the fishing industry. “I am a commercial fisherman. This is my home, and this ocean is my life. If there is a spill, will it wipe out all of the jobs from Eastport, Deer Island, Campobello and Lubec?” she asked. “This is a hand-to-mouth existence here, and there is so little left. Please, God, don’t take what we have left because we are just hanging on by our fingernails. One spill from these tankers would be such an ecological disaster, we’d never recover.”