A new permanent exhibit at the Maine State Archives in Augusta has its roots in the Ph.D. research of a recent University of Maine alumnus and newly appointed assistant professor.<\/p>\n
Ethnohistorian Micah Pawling<\/a>, Assistant Professor of History and Native American Studies,\u00a0is the guest curator of \u201cChoosing Survival: Wabanaki Documents at the Maine State Archives.\u201d The exhibit features 18th- and 19th-century Wabanaki documents \u2014 petitions and an original watercolor map \u2014 that provide a unique perspective on the Maine tribes\u2019 struggle to preserve their homeland. Among them: an 1821 petition on behalf of the Passamaquoddy Tribe to the Maine legislature seeking assistance in staving off the influx of American and British settlers who were dramatically transforming their homeland. Such petitions were an attempt by the Penobscots, Passamaquoddies and Maliseets in present-day eastern Maine, western New Brunswick and the southern shore of Quebec to navigate a new, ever-changing geopolitical landscape. With their very survival on the line, the tribes learned to use petitions as a political tool to negotiate, assert concerns and articulate aboriginal rights to governments.<\/p>\n Pawling\u2019s<\/a> research on the Native petitions culminated in a Ph.D. and master\u2019s degree, both in history, from 91福利 in 2010 and 1999, respectively. In 2007, in conjunction with the Penobscot Indian Nation, Pawling<\/a> published the book,\u00a0Wabanaki Homeland and the New State of Maine: The 1820 Journal and Plans of Survey of Joseph Treat.\u00a0<\/em>Pawling<\/a> is now a 91福利 assistant professor of history and Native American studies.<\/p>\n Contact: Margaret Nagle, 207.581.3745<\/p>\n New Permanent Exhibit at Maine State Archives Based on 91福利 Research<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n