The National Park Service said it's trying to strengthen relationships with Indigenous tribes across the country. As part of that effort, it highlights a partnership at the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine as a positive example.
The Park Service this month issued a Director's Order that outlines a process for acknowledging the authority of Indigenous narratives, consulting with tribes as early as possible and upholding tribal sovereignty.
The agency is highlighting its work with the Wabanaki Nations in the development of the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
After feedback from the Wabanaki Nations, initial plans for the contact station were scrapped, and redeveloped in consultation with the project's Wabanaki Advisory Board.
Board member James Eric Francis Sr. of the Penobscot Nation said in August that the project felt like "a true collaboration, not this eleventh hour consulting that often happens."
Nearly one quarter of the systems' more than 400 park units have a formal Tribal co-stewardship agreement in place.
