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10 hours ago

Wabanaki Alliance hires Penobscot ambassador as next director

By Laurie Schreiber

The new executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance will bring a background as ambassador for the Penobscot Nation and organizational experience in human resources, equity and issues pertaining to human rights, the climate and the economy.

Maulian Bryant is seen in a posed headshot.
Photo / Courtesy Wabanaki Alliance
Maulian Bryant was appointed executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance.

Maulian Bryant will succeed the alliance’s first executive director, John Dieffenbacher-Krall, who will retire at the end of 2024. 

Established in June 2020, the alliance comprises the four Wabanaki Nations living in five communities in Maine — the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Mi'kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe with reservations at Motahkomikuk and Sipayik, and the Penobscot Nation. It was created to educate people about the need for securing the inherent sovereignty of the tribes in Maine, according to a news release.

Bryant has served as the Penobscot Nation’s ambassador for the past seven years. 

John Dieffenbacher-Krall speaks to a group of people.
Photo / Courtesy Wabanaki Alliance
John Dieffenbacher-Krall is stepping down as the Wabanaki Alliance’s executive director at the end of the year.

“I hope to continue my advocacy for our people in this new role and to continue the growth and impact of the thriving and vibrant movement we’ve built with the Wabanaki Alliance Tribal Coalition,” she said. 

She added, “ I have high hopes for what we can do together for tribal sovereignty and equality in our homelands now called Maine.” 

Wabanaki-state relationship 

The tribes formed the nonprofit alliance in 2020 to work to advance tribal sovereignty policies at the federal, state and local levels, while educating Maine residents and policymakers on tribal issues. 

At the time, the organization credited the 129th Maine Legislature on its actions to improve tribal-state relations, including renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day and banning racist sports mascots and imagery.  

But with more work to be done, the alliance said it would use its unified voice to further progress between the tribes and the state.

Bryant’s appointment occurs as the alliance has helped to catalyze a shift in how the public and policymakers perceive the Wabanaki and state relationship and the relative importance of Wabanaki sovereignty. 

In the past, Wabanaki-state relations tended to only receive public attention at moments of the deepest disagreement when the state “repeated historical pattern of failing to follow through on commitments and persistently resisting a fair interpretation of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act,” according to the release. 

Today, the release said, Wabanaki-state relations occupy the top of the public policy agenda. 

“We have always been sovereign Wabanaki Nations,” said Mi’kmaq Vice Chief Richard Silliboy, who also serves as the vice president of the Wabanaki Alliance board. “Our struggle has been compelling the state of Maine and many settler institutions to recognize and respect our sovereignty.”

Bryant, he said, “has the temperament, character, knowledge, skills, deep commitment and experience to build upon the progress we have made during the last four plus years.“

Organizational experience

Bryant has served as Penobscot Nation ambassador since 2017. She was elected to the Penobscot Nation Tribal Council before resigning her seat to serve as tribal ambassador. Previously, she was the human resources director at Penobscot Indian Nation Enterprises. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Maine and was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from Colby College in 2022. 

Her organizational experience includes co-chair of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations; co-chair of the Maine Climate Council’s Equity Subcommittee; member of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women; and board member of the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, Food and Medicine, Maine Center for Economic Policy, and Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault. 

She is a past board member of OUT Maine and a 2020 recipient of the Maryann Hartman Awards recognizing achievements of Maine women. 

Positive change

In a written statement earlier this year, Bryant noted that the alliance was a result of Wabanaki tribal leaders coming together to work with state government “on repairing the tense and at times broken relationship that had steadily deteriorated since the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement and Implementing Acts.”

She continued, “These acts had repeatedly been interpreted in a way that undermined the inherent tribal sovereignty of our nations and exacerbated the inequity and unjust treatment of our people and communities since the dark days of colonization and the creation of ‘Maine’ in our homelands.”

In the past four years, Bryant said, the relationship has seen “some good positive change” but added that there’s “a long way to go toward healing.”

The purpose of the alliance, she noted, is “to educate and advocate around the necessary steps we need to take together as a state to fully recognize and advance Wabanaki self-determination.”

As the organization’s first director, she wrote, Dieffenbacher-Krall brought several decades of experience from grassroots and community organizing with the Maine People’s Alliance and the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission, along with long-standing relationships with several tribal citizens and leadership from his work leading the Episcopal Committee on Indian Relations.

At the time of his hire, he let the alliance know that he had a retirement date in mind.

“His career of pursuing justice and being a voice for change exemplified his core values and he was excited to lend his talents to the Wabanaki Alliance as his twilight years in the workforce,” Bryant wrote.

Bryant credited Dieffenbacher-Krall with supporting the alliance growth in numbers and achievements — and in spirit and momentum. 

“Thanks to the influence of John on our organization, we have a thriving garden of relationships, ideas, goals and strategies yet to come,” she said.

She added, “We believe that Mainers are ready to see us as equals, as partners and as friends. And the work of the alliance and our coalition has been invaluable in that progress.”

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