Dawnland

Mishy Lesser, Learning Director of the Upstander Project, will join us to introduce the film and lead a Q&A afterwards.

“My foster mother told me … she would save me from being Penobscot.”

For most of the 20^th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970s, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools. Many children experienced devastating emotional and physical harm by adults who mistreated them and tried to erase their cultural identity. Now, for the first time, they are being asked to share their stories.

In Maine, a historic investigation — the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States — begins a bold journey. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners travel across Maine. They gather testimony and bear witness to the devastating impact of the state’s child welfare practices on families in Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Collectively, these tribes make up the Wabanaki people.

(Unrated, 86 min.)

Sponsored by the Colby College Center for the Arts and Humanities, Anthropology Department, Cinema Studies, Oak Institute for Human Rights, Pugh Center, Cultural Events Committee and the American Studies Program.

Tickets: $9.50 for adults; $7.50 for students, seniors, and soldiers; $6.50 for children.

Click to see the trailer.