A group led by First Nations member Mikhu Paul participates in blessing of the river ceremony at the Presumpscot River in Westbrook. The ceremony was held in October in honor of Indigenous People’s Day. Contributed / Michael Shaughnessy

Westbrook City Councilor Michael Shaughnessy would like the city to become one of the first municipalities in the state, and possibly the first, to regularly acknowledge that indigenous people once lived on its land.

So-called “land acknowledgments” have been growing in popularity over the past five years, especially with universities, according to Mihku Paul, a First Nations member, artist and activist. Such statements are typically made during official speeches or at the start of meetings, noting that native people once lived on the site, and they often include the fact that those people were forcibly removed.

Shaughnessy, an art professor at the University of Southern Maine, which recently adopted a land acknowledgment, wants official public meetings in Westbrook to start off with a land acknowledgment. An acknowledgment is especially important now as the city continues to invest in the recreational potential of the Presumpscot River and its restoration in the wake of the dam removals downtown at Saccarappa Falls. The river was a major fishing ground for tribes in the Wabanaki Confederacy before they were pushed out in the 1700s, he said.

Mihku Paul, a member of the Maliseet tribe, is advocating alongside Westbrook City Councilor Michael Shaughnessy for the city to adopt a land acknowledgment practice. Contributed / Mihku Paul

Land acknowledgments are more than just gestures, said Paul, a member of the Maliseet tribe.  They are derived from indigenous cultures themselves.

When Wabanaki tribes would pass through another tribe’s territory, they would do a land acknowledgment as a sign of respect, she said.

“That practice waned, obviously, when we got confined to reservations, but moving into contemporary times, it has been overlaid with the reality of reservations and colonization,” Paul said. “There has been a resurgence of the practice, which is also now, an appropriate practice that’s melded with the political realities of colonization. So it becomes a more meaningful practice to do so.”

Indigenous people still make land acknowledgements today, she said. “If I went to Mohegan and was invited to speak, I might open with an acknowledgment I am on the land of my neighbors’ or cousins’ land.”

She said land acknowledgments are a “good start” in getting Mainers in general to recognize the state’s indigenous roots.

By adopting the practice, Westbrook can lead by example, Shaughnessy said. Mihku and Shaughnessy believe Westbrook would be the first municipality to do so.

“It’s not a heavy lift, it’s some sentences at the beginning of the meeting,” he said. “I think it’ll speak well for our community. The council, 95% of what we do is (as) stewards of our fiscal resources. But, we are also stewards of other things like land, water and a sense of community.”

Paul said while acknowledgments can be just a few sentences, the message can still have a large impact on indigenous youth. When she was a young student she felt that indigenous history was suppressed in schools.

“We were completely invisible, it was terrible,” she said. “Your awareness builds and you reach an age of understanding and you become very angry at the situation.”

When she makes presentations at schools, students often approach her saying they have indigenous backgrounds.

“I don’t even know if the teachers realize that. So it’s really hard to qualify or measure that impact, but I know that there is an impact because we know that small steps like bringing it to kids” make a difference, she said.

The Westbrook City Council will discuss Shaughnessy’s proposal for a land acknowledgment at its next Committee of the Whole meeting, which has not yet been scheduled.