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AFSC - Maine

Wabanaki Staff Member Wins Award

Denise Altvater, Passamaquoddy, and Wabanaki program staff based in Maine, is one of three recipients this year of the Maryann Hartmann Award from the Women in the Curriculum and Women's Studies (WIC) Program of the University of Maine.  The award, now in its 19th year, is "given to recognize Maine women whose achievements in the arts, politics, business, education, and community service provide inspiration for women."
 
Denise was cited "for her integration of traditional cultural practices into her work with and on behalf of Wabanaki youth."  Denise has been AFSC Native American program staff since 1992.  The award ceremony will be held at the University of Maine, Orono, on Wednesday, October 13, 2004.

Wabanaki Program

The New England Regional Office (NERO) of the AFSC has worked with Native Americans in Maine for over 40 years. In 1989, after completion of the resource book, Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes, there was universal agreement among the Wabanaki communities that the Service committee should focus on youth work. Since then, the Wabanaki Program has been committed to the development of leadership, fostering high self-esteem, and instilling a positive cultural identity among Native youth in order to assist them in realizing their rightful place in their communities ad in the world. All work is culturally based and rooted in Wabanaki values and spirituality in order to lay the foundation for youth to seek principles and values that will guide their lives. The program also addresses the need for sustaining the voice of youth in community affairs and in developing models for partnerships between Youth Councils and Tribal Councils. An increasingly important element of Wabanaki youth work is to address issues of racism through the facilitation of greater understanding between native youth and the larger non-Native community.

The goals of the program for fiscal year 1997 include the following:

(a) to support both volunteer and paid Wabanaki youth workers by promoting the organization of a youth worker retreat;

(b) to facilitate regular communication and sharing among youth and other interested individuals through the development of a newsletter;

(c) to act as a resource and provide on-going support to Wabanaki youth gatherings, especially the Wabanaki Youth Confederacy;

(d) to increase program presence among Micmacs and Maliseets in the Houlton and Presque Isle areas of Maine;

(e) to seek opportunities for Wabanaki youth to develop positive experiences with non-Native communities, including participation in AFSC-sponsored events; and

(f) to continue to promote the distribution of the book, The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes to Native and non-native groups and institutions.

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