By Barbara A. Walsh of The Maine Monitor

While November 20th might just be another day to a lot of Mainers, the day is remembered quite differently by the Wabanaki tribes.

Thousands of Natives were hunted down and scalped due to a death warrant given by Massachusetts Bay Colony Lt. Governor Spencer Phips on this day in 1775. However, the history of this genocide has been forgotten or even celebrated, with towns like Westbrook getting its name from bounty hunter Colonel Thomas Westbrook.

But some are trying to change this legacy. According to The Maine Monitor, Penobscot tribe members are collaborating with the Boston based nonprofit Upstander Project to come up with things for the state curriculum. Maine passed a law requiring students to learn Wabanaki history back in 2001, but it’s been loosely enforced at best. The Upstander Project looks to change that, with things like 200 pages of curriculum and a short film called “Bounty”.

As well as this, recent laws such as the 2019 law banning Native American names mascots and imagery from Maine public schools, and the declaration to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, have worked to change how Mainers view the Wabanaki and their struggles.  Wabanaki tribal leaders are also trying to pass a “Sovereignty Bill” that will give them control over tribal lands and the hunting, fishing, and law enforcement that goes on there.

To read more about the Wabanaki and their struggles, click here.

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from the Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.