Location: Delano Auditorium, Leavitt Hall, Maine Maritime Academy, Castine

Livestream: Click the YouTube link below to watch the event live.

No reservations are required for in-person attendance.

James Eric Francis Sr, the Penobscot Nation’s Director of Cultural and Historic Preservation and Tribal Historian, will speak on “Penobscot Sense of Place”. During his talk, he will unpack stories about the origin and meaning of geographic place names in what is now known as Maine from a Wabanaki perspective. Wabanaki, part of the Algonkian language group, is the first language of Maine, and each tribe has a distinct language that expresses worldview. The original words of this land – Casco, Katahdin, Kennebec, Androscoggin, Pemaquid – can be found on any map of Maine today. As settlers colonized Maine with a dominant English language system, they named towns after their founding fathers or English homelands, resulting in a situation where Wabanaki people are now living in a deeply familiar place populated with foreign words. In his presentation, Mr. Francis will illuminate the relationship between natural resources, place names, and Wabanaki worldview. And through place names, Mr. Francis reveals the continued legacies of colonial violence on the landscape as well as the continuation of Indigenous adaptation, endurance, and resistance

In addition to serving as the Penobscot Nation’s Director of Cultural and Historic Preservation, Tribal Historian he also serves as Chair of Penobscot Tribal Rights and Resource Protection Board, and is a member of Tekαkαpimək Contact Station’s Wabanaki Advisory Board. As a historian, James studies the relationship between Maine Native Americans and the landscape. Prior to working at the Penobscot Nation, James worked for the Wabanaki Studies Commission helping implement the new Maine Native American Studies Law into Maine schools. James co-produced a film, Invisible, which examines racism experienced by Native Americans in Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. James is the Co-Chair of the Abbe Museum’s Board of Trustees, and Co-Director of Local Contexts, an initiative to support Native, First Nations, Aboriginal, and Indigenous communities in the management of their intellectual property and cultural heritage. James also serves on the UMaine’s Hudson Museum Advisory Board. James is a historical researcher, photographer, filmmaker, painter, and graphics artist.

For a Maine Maritime Academy campus map and directions, click HERE.