A banner year for Native American culture

BRUNSWICK — The way Nicholas Smith sees it, it's been a big year for Native American affairs in Maine.

Among other milestones, Gov. John Baldacci thanked tribes for their land stewardship, legislators visited tribal reservations on a bus tour of northern and eastern regions of the state, state leaders renewed conversations about the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and state officials proclaimed June 6 as Native American Veteran History Day.

"I think 2007 has been a big break-through year," said Smith, 80, a Brunswick resident who also saw something of a banner year for his investment in Native American culture. In May, on the heels of decades of work that have rendered him a familiar face for many of Maine's indigenous people, Smith received an honorary degree from his alma mater and a legislative proclamation recognizing his work as a scholar of Wabanaki culture.

"Nick is an unsung researcher," said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission. "They remember Nick at these weddings and ceremonies that few white people have ever observed."

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