Taking and Taking and Taking
Through state, federal, industry, and private action, settlers have encroached on this land for centuries, breaking treaties and barring Passamaquoddy people from their homelands.
Passamaquoddy people have called this area home since time immemorial. In 1794, facing colonial forces that are spreading fast across their homelands, the Passamaquoddy leaders sign a treaty with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to protect and reserve a portion of their homelands. The treaty reserves 23,000 acres at Motahkomikuk, along with 10 acres at Sipayik, islands in the Skutik River and Big Lake, and portage sites. These lands are to be for the Passamaquoddy forever. But it’s not long before the treaty is broken. The State of Maine supports ongoing division and sale of treaty lands, eroding them away from the Passamaquoddy.
An incomplete timeline of the taking
1820 - Maine breaks from Massachusetts to become an independent state, adopting the 1794 treaty with the Passamaquoddy in the process. However, even as it enters the union as a “free state,” Maine immediately begins breaking this treaty by selling reserved Passamaquoddy land to non-native settlers.
1835 - State of Maine introduces a bill to sell all of Motahkomikuk. Because settlers aren’t interested in buying the land, the bill is voided.
1850s - The island Kuwesuwi Monihq (Pine Island) is renamed to White’s Island and is eventually purchased by a non-native settler.
1851 - Settler Putnam Rolfe, who is an Indian Agent, builds a dam that floods Captain Lewey’s island, forcing him to move to the banks.
1862 - The State of Maine gives a mile-wide (4,000 acres) strip along the east side of Township to William Todd to build a highway.
1868 - When Captain Lewey dies, the State sends three commissioners to divvy his assets among descendants. The commissioners are paid in Lewey’s money and in Motahkomikuk land.
1889 - The State conveys two lots in Motahkomikuk to Stephen Peabody, for his and his father’s work as Indian Agents.
1889 - The State sells 100 acres of Motahkomikuk land to C. A. Rolfe, a non-native business owner in the area.
1912 - St. Croix Paper Company installs a dam on the Skutik River, which floods at least 4,000 acres of land at Motahkomikuk.
1933 - The U.S. federal government takes land at Motahkomikuk to create a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. In 1944, this installation is converted into a Prisoner of War camp housing Nazi soldiers from WWII.
1964 - Non-native settler William Plaisted begins moving earth at a lot in Motahkomikuk, claiming he won the land in a poker match. Passamaquoddy resistance to this act stops Plaisted’s actions, and sets the stage for the land claims and return across Passamaquoddy and Wabanaki homelands.
Land that is reserved for Passamaquoddy and later sold illegally is referred to as alienated land. Passamaquoddy people have never stopped resisting the taking of their land, whether through sending representatives to federal and state houses, enacting sit-ins and protests, and speaking against this theft in courts, schools, and civil society. These efforts led to the return of some alienated lots, but the tribe had to purchase the remaining lots with the Land Claims funds and had to pay 10 times the original amount. More remain to return.
Reflection Questions
What are all the pathways that land has been taken from Passamaquoddy people?
What are the pathways through which land could return?
Land is not the only thing that’s taken in the process of colonization. What else has been attempted to be taken from the Passamaquoddy people? How has that taking been resisted?
Additional Resources
Donald Soctomah’s 2005 Report: “Let Me Live as My Ancestors Had: Tribal Life and Times in Maine and New Brunswick, 1850–1890” recounts many instances of land alienation at Motahkomikuk
This research was compiled as part of the Mihqitahatom: The “I Remember” Walk at Motahkomikuk/Indian Township, which took place on August 17, 2025. For more research related to this area, click on the tags below. To download a hi-res version of the posters below for educational use, please contact where@atlanticblackbox.com.
This walk was a collaboration between the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk (Indian Township), First Light, and the Walks for Historical & Ecological Recovery (WHERE), a series convened by Atlantic Black Box, following the actions and determination of the community and leadership from elders.