Blue Hill Public Library will host a screening of the new feature-length documentary film Dawnland, on Thursday, October 18th at 6:30 PM, followed by a discussion led by Barbara Kates of Maine-Wabanaki REACH (Reconciliation Engagement Advocacy Change Healing). The film is about the Wabanaki Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the first government-sanctioned TRC in the United States.
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970’s, one in four Native American children nationwide was living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners traveled across Maine, gathering testimony and bearing witness to the devastating impact of the state’s child welfare practices on Wabanaki families.
Maine-Wabanaki REACH is a cross-cultural collaboration that envisions and prepares for a future where Maine and Wabanaki people join together, acknowledging truth, promoting healing, and creating change. This event is free and open to everyone. For more information, call the library at 374-5515.
