Dawnland Signals 4/7/26

Hosts: Nolan Altvater and Nick Bear
Zoom Recording Technician: Scarlett Tudor
Producer: Esther Anne
Original music: Nick Bear

Dawnland Signals highlights indigenous topics not immediately represented in mainstream media and is meant to share, inspire, and inform.

This month:
– Wabanaki cultural economic growth through community-based planning.
– Wabanaki Cultural Tourism Initiative and Fellowship Program.
– Rematriation and Land Return.
– Land Claims Settlement Act’s negative impact on Wabanaki economic growth.
– Self-governance and economic growth.

Guests:

Frances Soctomah is the Collaborative Fund Manager for the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship and basket maker who belongs to the Peskotomuhkatiyik – the People Who Spear Pollock. Known in English as the Passamaquoddy. The Wolankeyutomone kisi apaciyewik (“Let us take good care of what is returned” Fund) was created to repair, rebuild, and sustain Wabanaki relationship, kinship, and access to place and to directly help Wabanaki people and institutions to fulfill their care-taking responsibilities for the lands and waters of Maine.
www.dawnlandreturn.org
Socials – @wabanakicommision

Matthew Lewis is the executive Director of Four Directions Development Corporation. Matthew is a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik with comprehensive expertise in non-profit sectors and community development financial institutions. Matthew has over a decade of experience working alongside Municipal, State, Tribal, and Federal Governments, administering revolving loan funds and executing community development projects.
fourdirectionsmaine.org/
Socials – @fourdirectionsmaine

Nick Francis is the Executive Director of the Wabanaki Community Foundation and is a citizen of Penobscot Nation. The Wabanaki Community Foundation (WCF) is an Indigenous-led organization that exists to build intergenerational wealth and vibrant futures for Wabanaki people and communities. This organization helps to invest in people and communities with direct support with the aim of promoting self-determination in the philanthropic sector.
www.wabanakifoundation.org/

Links:
Wabanaki REACH: www.wabanakireach.org/
Dawnland Signals: www.wabanakireach.org/dawnland_signals