An Indigenous Approach to Relationship & Restoration

The goal of the Peskotomuhkatikuk Learning Hub is to lift up the traditions, teachings, and projects of the Peskotomuhkati Nation in their efforts to bring restoration to all of life in, and surrounding, Passamaquoddy Bay.

Passamaquoddy Bay

The Pollock (Peskotom), Passamaquoddy Bay, and the Peskotomuhkatikuk bioregion are all namesakes of the Peskotomuhkati. And the Peskotomuhkati are a namesake of them. These beings… a fish, a bay, a bioregion …are living expressions of an incredibly complex set of biophysical & spiritual relations. They bear witness to a vast timescape that continues–alive– in the midst of the modern, Western world. This is the first relationship, with the land, waters, plants, and creatures of the homeland.

Peskotomuhkati Nation

The three main communities of the Peskotomuhkati Nation are Sipayik, Motahkomikuk, and Skutik. The people live around Passamaquoddy Bay, in what’s known as Charlotte County in New Brunswick, and Washington County in Maine. They, like all Indigenous people on Turtle Island, have endured an attempted genocide, and fight to continue reviving their way of life for the benefit of future generations in the midst of an industrialized, money-centric society. The Peskotomuhkati culture is deep, and its stories are true. In these communities reside the Elders, who carry the knowledge of the people forward, bringing this region’s vast timescape into the memory-challenged status quo of our era, and into the room where decisions are being made.

Wapna’ki – The Dawnland

The Wabanaki Confederacy is the family of Nations that includes the Penobscot, Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, Abenaki, and Peskotomuhkati. Their land and waters–Wapna’ki (“The Dawnland”)–runs under, above, and around Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. When you travel in the area, you are moving through Peskotomuhkatikuk, Wolastokuk, Mi’maki, Panawahpskewahki, and Ndakinna. With each step, you are sharing space with a network of language roots and family roots that goes back 14,000 years and spans 70 million acres.

Wider Community

In Peskotomuhkatikuk, there are many good-natured non-Indigenous residents with skills and passion for restoration, and a recognition of the value of Indigenous leadership and knowledge for the tasks at hand. There is also an important international community of land & marine scientists, researchers, lawyers, policymakers, and activists that have journeyed with the Peskotomuhkati in their work over the last 30 years. They have all become friends and regular collaborators with the Nation in the restoration of Passamaquoddy Bay and the Skutik river watershed.

Our Approach: Experiential Education, Even Online.

The Peskotomuhkatikuk Learning Hub was created to provide a connection point between the Peskotomuhkati and two groups: those already involved with the Nation’s efforts to restore the Bay, and those interested in pitching in.

The Peskotomuhkati are open to building power and common purpose together with non-Indigenous people and organizations. The Hub is an accessible way to first begin to come closer.

In this first phase of the Hub’s rollout, the site will offer creative digital experiences that keep us all learning, thinking, and doing around the Bay and its health. It is a way to channel genuine interest into digitally delivered, locally situated co-learning. Peskotomuhkati people are grateful to see people’s engagement with their work, and this builds relationship.

The video material that forms the basis of this first phase is drawn from the Summit of the Bay II, a two-day conference held by the Nation in October, 2024, in Qonaskamkuk (St. Andrews, NB) with marine scientists, traditional knowledge holders, ocean activists, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

The Peskotom.Land Site

The content and structure of the site was designed to honour Peskotomuhkati principles.

• We invite participants to play learning games, but they are games of reciprocity and knowledge sharing, not data extraction.
• We offer collectible digital remembrances of the living Bay (“Peskotomuhkati Valued Relation” cards) in gratitude for participant’s voluntary attention and engagement.
• There is no pay gate, the Hub’s content is free. But be advised: if you connect with the homeland through this site, it will change your life.
• The prompts throughout the site teach the participant to use their mind to value the marine facts and social facts of our shared history, present, and future, but participants are also encouraged to involve their hearts and bodies as well.

As Chief Hugh Akagi says, while pointing to the heart, “without this,” he points to the head, “there is no this.”

A Note On Navigating the Site

The Hub holds many different kinds of learning experiences, and you are encouraged to mix and match between self-guided and guided routes, and to engage with the elements that are drawing you in. While every effort has been made to make the Hub easy to use, these are all stories. And stories surprise you along the way. So there are elements and content in the Hub that can only be found while on a wander down a path or a route. We welcome you.