By Associated Press, 5/22/2002 02:18
But to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the island on Big Lake in far eastern Maine is a sacred place. It was on this island where an unknown number of men, women and babies of the Bear Clan were buried in makeshift graves 150 years ago, victims of smallpox.
At a ceremony Tuesday at Peter Dana Point in Indian Township, Domtar's top executive transferred the deed to Gordon's Island to Passamaquoddy Govs. Richard Doyle and Richard Stevens.
''We are the eastern tribe of the United States, so the sun greets us first here,'' Stevens said. ''Today is a very special day for my people, especially for the elders of the tribe, who have dreamed about this day.''
Wayne Newell, a member of the Maine-Indian Tribal State Commission, said Indians used to live along different parts of Big Lake.
When the smallpox epidemic struck, those who lived on the island wanted to be buried at the cemetery at Peter Dana Point, Newell said. But the community there knew the infectious nature of smallpox, and ''literally fought them back so they wouldn't be exposed, to save themselves, basically.''
So instead of being buried at Peter Dana Point, the victims were buried on Gordon's Island, three miles out on Big Lake in No. 21 Township.
When Domtar, which is based in Montreal, bought the Georgia-Pacific properties, it also took ownership of the island.
Darrell Newell of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Arne Neptune of the Penobscot Nation performed a sacred pipe ceremony to commemorate the occasion. The men are members of the Wabanaki Repatriation Committee, which strives to return ancestral remains in the nation's museums back to tribes.
Raising the pipe to the north, south, east and west, the men prayed to the great spirit who protects land and sky. An American eagle flew overhead. More than 300 people watched.
''We have a saying: Our ancestors look through the eyes of the eagle,'' state Rep. Donald Soctomah, who was instrumental in getting the island returned to the tribe, said quietly, looking up at the sky. ''It is truly a special day.''
Raymond Royer, president of Montreal-based Domtar, said it was ''a privilege for me to transfer back to the Passamaquoddy Tribe the deed to this ancestral land which played such an important role in ensuring your survival and guaranteeing your future."