Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Festival
The Thoreau Wabanaki Trail Festival promotes the understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of Maine’s unique cultural heritage and natural resources, made famous here in the Moosehead Lake Region. It celebrates naturalist writer Henry David Thoreau’s three trips into the Maine Woods and the culture and heritage of the Wabanaki people.
From the Piscataquis Observer:
GREENVILLE — The 13th Annual Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Festival will take place July 24-26 on the shores of East Cove, downtown Greenville.
Adventures begin at The Center for Moosehead History, 6 Lakeview St., on all three days. They range from a Thoreau-style guided hike up Little Moose Mountain to a Native American cultural workshop with directors from the Abbe Museum and the Penobscot Nation.
Maine’s internationally recognized moose expert, Lee Kantar, will be the guest speaker on All About Moose, Maine’s pioneering five-year moose project, on Wednesday evening. Mr. Kantar was just honored at the 53rd North American Conference on Moose with the Distinguished Moose Biologist Award. Past recipients have included those from Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Maine has more moose than any other state outside of Alaska.
Thursday, July 25, brings Jodi DeBruyne, Director of Collections and Research, and Starr Kelley, Curator of Education, both from the Abbe Museum, to lead a workshop on Interpreting Native American Stories & Collections. The Abbe is the only Smithsonian affiliate museum in the state. Back by popular demand with Penobscot Sense of Place is James E. Francis, Sr., Tribal Historian and Director of the Penobscot Nation’s Cultural and Historic Preservation Department. Place speaks about Maine geographic names many people will recognize and the Penobscot relationship to the landscape. It also reveals the relationship between naturalist writer Henry David Thoreau and Penobscot guides Joe Attean and Joe Polis.
Friday afternoon, July 26, is a fascinating Live Owl presentation by the Chewonki Foundation’s Traveling Natural History Program. Seating is limited to the first 30 people due to the live owls and their need for interaction with a smaller group of people.
Friday evening, at 6:30 pm, So What’s the Big Deal About Moosehead Brook Trout? closes out the festival. Moosehead Lake’s native favorite has grown beyond their traditional size. Come hear Moosehead Regional Fisheries Biologist Tim Obrey talk about why that may be. North Woods wild brook trout are also the last stronghold from their original habitat, which at one time stretched along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The festival celebrates Thoreau’s three trips into the Maine Woods and the culture and heritage of the Wabanaki people. Wabanaki water trails were traditional Native American canoe routes on the Kennebec, Penobscot, and Allagash rivers. Moosehead Lake figures prominently in the connection of these ancient routes, as well as being the launch site for two of the three trips Thoreau made with Penobscot guides.
The festival promotes the understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of Maine’s unique cultural heritage and natural resources, made famous here in the Moosehead Lake Region. For more details, contact the Moosehead Historical Society, 207-695-2909 or e-mail: mooseheadhistory@myfairpoint.net.
Information about the fesrival is also available at mooseheadhistory.org or nrecmoosehead.org.
This year’s festival is made in partnership between the Moosehead Historical Society, the Natural Resource Education Center and Shaw Public Library, Greenville; Maine Woods Forever and Maine Archives & Museums.