Land acknowledgement 

Norumbega Strategies is located in what is now called Hallowell, Maine. Hallowell was settled on the traditional, unceded territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy (Waponahki) — translated as “People of the First Light” or “Dawnland.”  The Wabanaki currently comprise five principal nations: the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki and stretches from Newfoundland in the north, to mid-Maine in the south, and parts of Quebec in the west. 

This area was seized and settled by Europeans, some of whom were my ancestors, through bloody and genocidal actions. The terrible legacy of these actions continues today. I respect the traditional values of the Wabanaki people and affirm their inherent sovereignty in this territory, and I honor their stewardship of this beautiful land and its still-abundant natural resources. I can only hope that my efforts to protect and restore the environment of this area, and my life’s work to advance environmental justice, in a small way gives back. 

“Norumbega” is a mythical place that, if it existed, might comprise the Wabanaki lands in Maine and the Canadian Maritimes – at least based on the fantastical and inaccurate maps and stories of early European explorers. The word “norumbega” is thought to be a corruption of an Algonquin placename possibly meaning "quiet place between the rapids" or "quiet stretch of water."  While the explorers’ stories of houses of gold and buckets of pearls significantly embellished reality, those of us who live here know and cherish the extraordinary beauty and bounty of this place and understand the over-the-top enthusiasm it may have engendered. 

-- Sharon Anglin Treat