47 tribes attend Bar Harbor event Native Americans discuss issues, share cultural bonds at national conference

On the surface, the agenda of the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society’s national conference held in Bar Harbor this week probably looked like any other gathering of game wardens, biologists and land managers.

There were workshops on wildlife protection, seminars on using the latest field technology, and talks about finding more funding for conservation efforts – or doing more with the little money available.

But spend a few minutes talking with members of the nearly 50 tribes represented at the conference and you walk away with a sense that these professionals feel an additional obligation in caring for land often central to their tribe’s identity.

“Spirituality is just as essential a component in our approach as good science,” said Ira New Breast, executive director of the Native American Fish and Wildlife Society and a member of Montana’s Blackfeet Tribe.

Roughly 250 people representing 47 tribes and numerous government agencies converged on Maine this week to network and talk shop on real challenges facing land and wildlife managers – issues such as chronic wasting disease in deer, water pollution and shortages, and endangered species, to name a few.

The conference, which is in its 24th year, is also a chance for members to reunite with friends and colleagues who share both their professional interest and unique cultural background. Tribes from as far away as Alaska and as close as the Bangor area were represented.

While the conference was based in Bar Harbor, the Penobscot Nation was the event’s official host. Penobscot members organized many of the conference seminars and lead spiritual and ceremonial events, such as a traditional sunrise ceremony on top of Cadillac Mountain.

On Tuesday, more than 300 conference attendees and Penobscot community members gathered at the tribe’s Sockalexis Bingo Palace on Indian Island for a traditional feast. Penobscot cooks served up such tribal and Maine dishes as moose, salmon, blueberry cake and fiddleheads.

It was in the bingo hall that New Breast and society president Joe Jay Pinkham III explained why these annual gatherings are so beneficial to members.

Most attendees are grassroots workers struggling to find the best way to both protect and “enhance” their tribal land for future generations, Pinkham said. And then there is the deep spiritual connection that many Indian tribes have to their land, underscoring the importance of good management.

Intense development on the outskirts of reservations also is creating a situation where relatively unspoiled tribal lands have become “magnets” for endangered and unique animal species, New Breast said.

“In some cases, tribes are the last defense that resources have,” said Pinkham, a member of the Yakama Nation in Washington.

Tribal members as well as representatives of such government agencies as the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture lead discussions on fish and animal health, invasive species and biological threats to wildlife.

The four-day conference, which ended Thursday, also featured workshops on wildlife crime scene investigation and on satellite mapping and positioning technology, as well as an officer marksmanship competition and tours of the Penobscot River and Penobscot Nation land.

The society rotates the location of its annual meeting among seven regions in the country. The last time the conference came to Maine – Bar Harbor, specifically – was in 1991 when the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe jointly hosted the event.

On Tuesday, Penobscot Chief James Sappier described hosting the national event as an honor and a good chance to showcase local tribe’s traditions with representatives of other tribes from around the country.

Several Penobscot artisans set up tables in the Sockalexis palace to display their crafts, while a group of birch bark canoe-makers entertained a steady crowd with a display of their handiwork and a video of the building process.

“I think it is going very, very well,” Sappier said.