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Publication Date

10-1-2020

Document Type

Article

First Page

57

Last Page

66

Abstract

The separation from Massachusetts in 1820 had different meanings and implications for residents grounded in geography, culture, race, and economic standing. Understanding that the history of how Maine became a state is rooted in the stories of people, State of Mind: Becoming Maine focuses on four distinct communities—Wabanaki, Acadien French, Black, and English-speaking people all who have deep ties to the land now known as Maine. While multitudes of distinct cultural communities have, and continue to call Maine home, the Wabanaki have cared for this land for millennia. The French, Black, and English-speaking people have resided here since the early 1600s and represent a wide range of perspectives. These communities were also particularly impacted by the effects of statehood on existing treaties, sovereignty, land ownership, borders, slavery, citizenship, and colonialism. As we commemorate the Bicentennial of Maine’s entrance into the United States in 1820, this exhibition recognizes that Maine has been continually evolving over the past 13,000years, into a state of “becoming” the place we know in 2020.

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