The first-ever maritime cultural history of Wabanaki Indians in the Gulf of Maine, with a focus on the Mount Desert Island and Penobscot Bay area, is now available for download. Researched and written by Dr. Harald Prins and Bunny McBride, Asticouâs Island Domain: Wabanaki Peoples at Mount Desert Island 1500-2000 was commissioned by Acadia National Park in cooperation with the Abbe Museum and Maineâs four Wabanaki Indian nations.
Native Americans have inhabited Maineâs coast for more than 10,000 years. Today the state's four indigenous tribal nationsâPassamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Micmacâare known collectively as the Wabanaki ("People of the Dawn"). Acadia National Park lies in the center of the ancestral Wabanaki homeland.
Since its completion at the end of 2007, the National Park Service and Acadia National Park have distributed more than 150 copies of Asticouâs Island Domain to various libraries, scholars, and other interested individuals, as well as to each of Maineâs tribal nations. The National Park Service has just published a digital version on its history website. You can access the document from the Acadia National Park link listed here.