Date of Award

Fall 12-2021

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Interdisciplinary Program

Advisor

Darren Ranco

Second Committee Member

John Daigle

Third Committee Member

Marcella Sorg

Additional Committee Members

Sandra De Urioste-Stone

Abstract

A qualitative study using culturally consistent methods of story circles and individual testimony was completed at Passamaquoddy Indian Nation (Peskotomuhkatik), concerning food security through the ocean fisheries at Pleasant Point (Sipay’k), Maine in 2017. Participants included approximately 24 commercial and subsistence harvesters that involved both fishermen and fisherwomen. The historical and anthropocentric impact on the ontological and epistemological aspects of the Waponaki have constrained cultural customs and practices of indigenous interrelationship and interdependency linking Native food systems within the ecology. The multifaceted implications of regulatory control, climate change impacts, access to safe quality nutrient sources through a mixed subsistence diet and the right to practice traditional culture by interfacing with the natural world unabated, poses threats to cultural identity and survival of the Peskotomuhkati of Maine. The complexity of the multifaceted aspects of human induced climate change combined with an inability to self-determine traditional food systems of treaty tribes hinder the ability to build mechanisms for social-ecological resiliency amid environmental challenges. Planning models that are culturally consistent will guide the co-management and stewardship for the equitable distribution of the coastal fisheries within Peskotomuhkatik territory. Community-based models utilizing an indigenous perspective will guide future generations and provide an avenue to incorporate traditional value systems into environmental stewardship through individual agency must steer towards policies for inclusiveness that are sustainably and culturally responsive.

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