Land Trust Collaboration Launches Tales on the Trails to Highlight Indigenous Authors

Seven neighboring land conservation organizations in Southern Maine are collaborating to learn about and honor the intersection of land conservation and Indigenous communities. Their first public project features beautiful children’s books by contemporary Indigenous authors printed along publicly accessible walking trails.

June 14 saw the launch of Tales on the Trails at York Land Trust, Kennebunk Land Trust and Great Works Regional Land Trust in Newichawannock. Kennebunkport Conservation Trust is set up for summer on its children’s Storybook Trail. More are planned to follow through summer and fall at Kittery Land Trust, Wells Reserve at Laudholm and Arundel Conservation Trust.

Some of the authors will participate in the launches, presenting or reading their books, and visitors will have an opportunity to buy their own copies to take home. Every few months, the books will rotate around the different Land Trusts so that each community gets to experience the different stories.

Minquansis Sapiel (Passamaquoddy), pictured here, is the author of ‘Little People of the Dawn’ and is one of the first authors to be featured. She told us, “Having this event is a dream come true for me and I appreciate being able to have my story heard throughout Wabanaki Territory. This project is a great example of how we can work together and have more Wabanaki voices uplifted. It’s a step in the right direction to rebuild relationships that have been severed throughout history.”

Other books to be featured include ‘Who Am I?’ by Julie Buchholtz, ‘The Canoe Maker’ by Jean Flahive and Donald Soctomah, and ‘The First Blade of Sweetgrass’ by Suzanne Greenlaw and Gabriel Frey.

Amelia Nadilo, Executive Director of York Land Trust, who has led the coordination of this project, believes this is an opportunity to start building relationships and amplify the voices of Indigenous authors. It can also build awareness of their communities’ deep relationship with the land across a broad regional audience. Amelia explained, “Together we’re also learning what prevents Wabanaki communities in today’s Maine from living in connection with the land and waters they have so long cared for – to our benefit – and figuring out our own responsibility to support changes that might lead to repair. We are only at the beginning of this journey.”

The collaborating land trusts hope that these stories and artist illustrations will entice children and families outdoors into nature and explore trails in different areas. They are also an opportunity to learn from contemporary Indigenous people about a deeper and more reciprocal relationship to land, informed by millennia of experience and culture. Visitors will be encouraged to explore further through organizations such as Wabanaki REACH, the Abbe Museum and the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship.