POWs in Passamaquoddy Forests

675 Commonwealth Avenue,Boston MA 02215

13 April, 2022

Description

The Archaeology Program at Boston University's Lecture Series During the Spring of 2022, Boston University's Archaeology Program will be hosting a series of lectures. Our next lecture is titled POWs in Passamaquoddy Forests: Indigenous Archaeology at a WWII German POW Camp at Motahkokmikuk (Indian Township), Maine and will take place Wednesday, April 13th from 12:20 pm–1:15 pm. We are thrilled to have archaeologist and scholar Dr. Bonnie Newsom (University of Maine) joining us to share their work on this topic and to engage in a conversation with the BU Archaeology community. Abstract: Between 1944 and 1946 the United States government operated a WWII German Prisoner of War (POW) camp on Passamaquoddy land at Motahkokmikuk (Indian Township), Maine. Archaeological and historical research into this little-known episode in Maine history reveals a complex story of socio-cultural relations and Indigenous territory encroachment. In this presentation, Dr. Bonnie Newsom discusses the story and backstory of the POW presence in Passamaquoddy homeland and the broad applicability of Indigenous archaeologies theory and methodologies. Dr. Bonnie Newsom is an Indigenous archaeologist interested in the pre-contact lifeways of Maine’s Native peoples. Her research has occurred within the Penobscot River Valley in Maine focusing heavily on Native peoples living during the Ceramic Period (ca. 3050-250 years ago). Through her research, she has saught to humanize people in the past by exploring concepts of identity, style, social boundaries, and human agency. Most recently, her research has focused on population distinctions in pre-contact Maine through an analysis of potters’ choices in the manufacture of aboriginal ceramics from Maine’s coastal and interior settings. As a faculty member at UMaine, Dr. Newsom continues to build a portfolio of research dedicated to exploring some of Maine archaeology’s most interesting and unresolved questions. And as a member of the Penobscot Indian Nation, her professional efforts include ways to create space for Indigenous voices. To that end, she worked to establish an archaeology program at Penobscot Nation and to establish solid working relationships with heritage professionals in the state and across the nation. Dr. Newsom has also served on numerous boards and committees at both the local and national levels. Currently, she serves as Chair of the Repatriation Review Committee for the Smithsonian Institution and was recently appointed to the Maine State Museum Commission.