Offered in partnership with the Maine Local Living School.Penobscot Expedition is a journey to understand the past and present of the Penobscot Nation. Our expedition is informed by these questions: What does it mean to live in the same place for 10,000 years? What can the ‘dominant culture’ learn from indigenous people? What is our role in the ongoing struggle for tribal sovereignty? We begin the journey at the Maine Local Living School where we carve poles for upstream canoe travel, paying our respect to indigenous ingenuity. While on the homestead we will harvest and preserve food, use the solar dehydrator, and process acorns into flour. Departing the homestead, we begin our expedition with rocky, shallow, technical upstream paddling and poling. We follow an ancient canoe route used by Wabanaki tribes to connect the Penobscot and Kennebec River watersheds. We face challenging navigation through the thin headwaters of two rivers, and encounter abundant wild foods, giant turtles, friction fire, and the same difficult portages that have been done for thousands of years. Our destination is the Penobscot River where we will meet Penobscot tribal members on Sugar Island. Here we will learn about tribal history and world views, contemporary issues facing the Penobscot Nation, and what it means to be Penobscot in 2025.
A rough, wild line that few sail, and fewer kayak. Dramatic cliffs and prominent tides. Paddling towards Canada, sometimes with the water, and sometimes against it. The name of the coast speaks for itself. After honing our sea kayaking and expedition skills along tamer sections of the Maine coast, we will set off for the easternmost miles of the U.S. coastline, paddling by day and carefully searching for hidden coves to spend the night. We’ll dive into the history of the region, of colonial settlers, of lonely lobstermen and shipwrecked boats, and the indigenous who came first, and take in the pristine beauty and nature of Maine's farthest reaches. Along the way we will visit farms and communities, immersing ourselves in the Downeast culture of Maine. After a brave final crossing we enter the safe waters of the harbor and return to the shore. Come along on an adventurous paddle that is a feather in the cap of any sea kayaker!