BRUNSWICK

Bowdoin College observes the opening of the archives of the Maine Wabanaki- State Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission with a series of events on campus Monday.

A screening of “First Light,” a documentary short focusing on the TRC and its investigation into the disproportionate removal of children from Wabanaki communities, will take place at 3 p.m. in Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center, followed by a discussion with filmmakers Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip, and Esther Attean, co-director of Maine-Wabanaki REACH.

After the screening and discussion, keynote speaker Gail Dana-Sacco will deliver the talk “Vigilance and Transformation: Reflections of an Indigenous Researcher” at 4:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium.

Dana-Sacco, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, earned her Ph.D. in health policy and administration at the Johns Hopkins University, where she remains affiliated with the Center for American Indian Health.

Through Wayfinders for Health, she works with communities and organizations to find pathways to improved public health outcomes by critically examining and addressing the structural drivers of health inequities and activating community knowledge to develop sustainable solutions.

“Our most important inquiries ultimately center on the questions we ask ourselves,” said Dana-Sacco. “As an Indigenous researcher, critical reflection informs my work and provides essential guidance to my examination of the structural drivers of health and equity. You are invited to imagine and consider the power and impact of individual and collective responses to injury and inequity.”

Dana-Sacco’s research interests include the effect of the tribal-state relationship on health; Native languages and health; and the impact of injury, especially violence, on tribal communities in both the current and historical context.

Carol Wishcamper, a commissioner and co-chair of The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare TRC, will deliver introductory remarks.

Following Dana-Sacco’s talk, a reception will be held in Lancaster Lounge, Moulton Union. The events are free and open to the public.

Endorsed by the governor of Maine and the state’s five tribal chiefs, the TRC began its work in early 2013 to uncover how child welfare practices in the state of Maine have impacted Wabanaki children and their families.

The TRC gathered individual and group statements from Wabanaki and non- Native people who wished to share their experiences, and researching why Native children continue to be removed from their homes at such disproportionate rates even following the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, which was intended to end such practices.

The information was compiled into a report disseminated widely to key stakeholders and policymakers, both tribal and non-Native, in the hope that the TRC’s recommendations will help influence positive change for Wabanaki families.

The material, comprising approximately 170 statements in the form of video, audio and print files, along with related administrative and research materials, is now preserved in the Bowdoin College Library, and is available for research in the Library’s George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives.

“We recognize the value of the archive to teaching and scholarship, and its power in documenting the issues around reconciliation, Wabanaki culture and history and, more broadly, Maine tribal life and state government policy,” said Bowdoin College Library Director Marjorie Hassen. “As an institution committed to the common good and with its active ties to the Wabanaki community, Bowdoin College is honored to be entrusted with the archive’s care and looks forward to serving the community at large by providing access to these significant historical records.”