A WABANAKI CASE Alvin H. Morrison State University of New York At

179 THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW VERSUS THE STORM SPIRIT: A WABANAKI CASE Alvin H. Morrison State University of New York at Fredonia INTRODUCTION The intent of the Native American Religious Freedom Act (Pub lic Law 95-341) is that Whites should accept as valid whatever In dian practitioners claim to be their traditional religious beliefs; the opinions of non-practitioners are deemed non-valid. However, when evidence exists that makes Indian claims questionable, what is to be accepted as valid? Such a thesis/antithesis situation arises in the Wa banaki claims regarding the native religious use of Maine's highest peak, Mt. Katahdin, versus qualifying, if not contrary, folklore, ethnohistory, and other data obtained by Whites. While a conclusive synthesis may be impossible at this time in this case, it stands as an example of a major problem in implementing PL 95-341. This paper1 attempts no definite answers to the questions of Wa banaki religion that are its chief concern. Indeed, the true answers may never be found, as is so often the case in ethnohistorical matters. However, a tentative conclusion is offered that supports the real pur pose of the paper, which is to exemplify a major difficulty in imple menting the clear intent of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Our title, "The Spirit of the Law versus the Storm Spirit", suc cinctly points out the basic elements in a problem of conflicting evi dence as to what were the traditional Wabanaki religious beliefs and practices pertaining to Maine's highest mountain. Section 2 of this PL 95-342 dated 11 August, 1978 reads, in part: The President shall direct the various Federal departments, agencies, and other instrumentalities responsible for administering relevant laws to evaluate their policies and procedures in consultation with native traditional religious leaders in order to determine appropriate changes necessary to protect and pre serve Native American religious cultural rights and practices. [Emphasis added.] The intended meaning and purpose of such "consultation with native traditional religious leaders" is spelled out on pages 5-6 of Grateful acknowledgement is due to both Ms. Alice E. Sproul, Legal Assis tant in the Department of the Attorney General (Augusta, Maine), and Mr. A. Lee Tibbs, Director of Baxter State Park (Millinocket, Maine), for their kind help while the author was researching this paper. However, the conclusions pre sented herein are solely the responsibility of the author, and are not to be con sidered the official opinions of the State of Maine or of any of its departments. 180 Alvin H. Morrison Senate Indian Affairs Committee Report 95-709 dated 21 March, 1978: Because much of the present problem [of curtailed Indian religious freedom] stems from lack of knowledge of what traditional native religions constitute, it is imperative that the evaluation find a source of knowledge if it is to rectify the problem. It is the intent that that source be the practitioner of the religion, the medicine people, religious leaders, and traditionalist [sic] who are Natives—and not Indian experts, political leaders, or any other nonpractitioner. The com mittee has determined that only through consultation with Native religious lead ers will the administration be able to clearly understand how their policies and regulations impact on Native American religious practices and, thus, be able to protect against infringements. [Emphasis added.] Of course the interface of religion and politics always holds the potentiality for trouble, but this expressed intent just cited seems naively to be inviting it openly. No intent whatever is expressed to hear opposing evidence, let alone to use it as a check against possibly exaggerated or biased (or even bogus) claims as to what were tradi tional Indian religious practices. The model of the one-sided treaty lives on still, despite all that has been said against it in recent de cades. While the corrective theory behind the expressed intent un doubtedly is honourable, it all too easily provokes problems of im plementation because of its imbalance. And contractual imbalance is a certain route to worsen, not to ameliorate, interracial and inter- ethnic relations. THE WABANAKI THESIS "Wabanaki" (translated as "Dawnlanders") is a collective term for the closely-related east-northeast Algonquian peoples of sub-St. Law rence Canada and northern New England. From east to west they are or were the Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Abenaki, and Pennacook. The State of Maine occupies a keystone-like position in this arch of Wabanaki distribution, and Maine has been the arena for centuries of conflict—first military, now legal—between the races, religions, nations, and political groupings involved. As things eventually turned out, the following Wabanaki example did not come under the terms of PL 95-341, but it well might have done so; certainly the Indians wanted it to. During the 1970's, the Passamaquoddies and Penobscots successfully sued for and won U.S. Federal jurisdiction, formerly having been considered State of Maine Indians. They also made claim to 12.5 million acres of land within Maine (over 60 percent of the state), initiating legal proceed ings against the state itself and a collection of large land-owners; they exempted the multitude of small land-owners from their suit. The Spirit of the Law 181 This land claim case never went beyond the pre-trial stages, how ever, because late in 1980, the U.S. Congress bought off the Passa maquoddies and Penobscots (and the Houlton Band of Maliseets, too) with a total payment-pledge of $81.5 million. Of this money, $54 million was to be used by the Indians to buy 300,000 acres of mutually-agreed-upon land from the large land-owners. The State of Maine kept all of its state-owned land intact, including Baxter State Park—the location of Mt. Katahdin, Maine's highest peak and the focal point of this paper. All other and further claims by the Indians were extinguished by the terms of this 1980 Congressional settle ment. This extinguishing of all other and further claims becomes impor tant in considering the Katahdin matter. During the legal maneuver - ings in the land-claim case, a side-issue arose in 1977 and 1978 con cerning the supposedly traditional religious use of Mt. Katahdin by the Wabanaki peoples. Indeed, in a "Joint Memorandum of Under standing" dated 6 February, 1978, representatives of the Passama quoddy and Penobscot Tribes and a White House Work Group stated in Item C.9 on pages 7-8: If a settlement can be reached with the State of Maine, the White House Work Group will use its best efforts to obtain for the tribes assured access under mutu ally agreeable regulations to a designated place in Baxter State Park for religious ceremonial purposes. If the Work Group's efforts to obtain such assured access are unsuccessful, the tribes have reserved the right to reject a settlement with the State of Maine. [Emphasis added.] Thus, religious ceremonialism at Mt. Katahdin was considered in early 1978 to be a sine qua non in the land-claim settlement, but (strangely) it was omitted in the 1980 considerations and did not be come a part of the actual settlement. Katahdin-centered ritualism had first come to the attention of Maine State officials in June 1977 when a group of Penobscots met with the Director of Baxter State Park at his Millinocket office, re questing fee-less "freedom of access and camping" within the park "for ceremonial purposes" involving "primarily Mt. Katahdin and the southwest portion of the Park." (The mountain itself is in the south east region of the vertically-rectangular park.) Special facilities (in cluding sweat-lodges) would be constructed in "a location of their own choosing outside of our present camping facilities." About ten persons for 3 or 4 days' ceremonies would come at approximately two-week intervals during the summer and less frequently at other times of year. (All of these details and request were made orally; in deed, supposedly no written proposals about Katahdin ever have been received from the Wabanaki by Baxter State Park officials.) In a Baxter State Park Director's Memo to Authority Members 182 Alvin H. Morrison (K) Mt. Katahdin (Elev. 5267') in Baxter State Park (Maine) (w) Mt. Washington (Elev. 6288') formerly Agiochook (NH) dated 29 June, 1977, it is stated: "Their request is clearly contrary to our present rules and regulations but was neither approved nor denied." Later that year, at a regular meeting of the Baxter State Park Au thority on 2 August, 1977 at Augusta, an Indian delegation appeared to make further oral statements and/or requests "on behalf of the Wabanaki Nation which is made up mainly of four tribes—Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Micmac and Maliseet." Selections from the "Minutes of Meeting" from pages 2-3 follow: 1) Mt. Katahdin was the spiritual mountain of the Wabanaki people and the whole mountain and the area around it is sacred. 2) They have cultural rights within Baxter State Park. Indicated there was a village on the east side of the flat land on the western plateau. 3) When they get the land back through the land case they will go back and settle on the mountain. 4) Any area used including the mountain would be restricted or closed to non-Indians and any fee would be waived. The Spirit of the Law 183 7) Ceremonies would include feasting, praying and use of sweat lodges for purification of the mind. The purification ceremony can be done as often as needed but the vision quest ceremony is done just once in a lifetime from the highest point. 8) Medicine man goes up every year for spiritual ceremony with indication that sweat lodges and ceremonies have been used right along.

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