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Yarmouth Removes 1929 Plaque With Derogatory Language From Cemetery

Town of Yarmouth

The town of Yarmouth has removed a 90-year-old cemetery plaque that referred to Native American people as “savage enemies.”

Yarmouth Town Manager Nat Tupper says he did not know the marker existed, but that once it was determined that the plaque was a historical marker and not a gravestone marker, it was “not a complex matter to simply unscrew it.”

“The historical marker was brought to my attention by members of the community who were preparing to make a presentation of Dawnland at the local library, and thought it was inconsistent with the message and intentions of today and values of today, and asked if I would remove it because the town owns the cemetery,” Tupper says.

The plaque was removed from the cemetery Feb. 7.

“It’s my understanding that this plaque was brought to their attention because of the derogatory language toward Indigenous people and probably overlooked for many decades,” says Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, President and CEO of the Abbe Museum. “I was excited to see that when someone called attention to it, leadership in Yarmouth was willing to remove it.”

Maria Girouard from Wabanaki Reconciliation-Engagement-Advocacy-Change-Healing (REACH), says that the fact that the community removed the sign so quickly offers hope.

“I’m pleased to hear the signage was removed and that it was done so swiftly and without a whole lot of fanfare,” Girouard says. “To me that type of signage just perpetuates these stereotypes of violence.”

Girouard notes that there are still other signs with similar language around the state of Maine.

“These markers are throughout the whole state of Maine, and you can see them, like outside the Fort Andross building in Brunswick, down in Castine has some very offensive language as well,” says Girouard. “You know it's nice that people are feeling motivated, maybe other places will catch on and we can kind of see this wave of change happening."

Katie Worthing of the Yarmouth Historical Society says that the sign will be archived for educational purposes.

“It’s now in our collection here, and we’ll be preserving it as a piece of local history and putting it on display as an effort to re-contextualize it and use it as an opportunity to discuss this uncomfortable history, acknowledge it, and hopefully start conversations about how to move forward in a more positive way,” Worthing says. 

Regarding the decision to keep the plaque, Catlin-Legutko of the Abbe Museum says, “I always encourage my colleagues to enter those conversations readily and willingly. It will be really important for everyone involved to really do their research and understand why this language is problematic because a lot of audiences are catching up to this conversation because they haven’t been educated around Native history in a way that’s full and complete with the truth.”

Caitlin Troutman is the Digital News and Content Producer for Maine Public. Caitlin worked as a writer and editor for various publications before discovering her love for public media at KCUR in Kansas City. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Critical Theory from the Oxbridge Honors Program at William Jewell College and the University of Oxford. She joined Maine Public in 2018.