Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians

The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (HBMI) is a small band of the larger Maliseet Nation, a Native American Indian tribe of North America. The aboriginal ancestors of the 590 present (1996) Band members traditionally lived and hunted off the land in the Saint John Valley watershed and throughout Aroostook County. By the 1870's non-Indians had completely settled Aroostook County. Their arrival had created tremendous disruption in the Maliseet's traditional hunting and gathering economy. Houlton, an area frequently visited by migratory Maliseet families, eventually became a focus for Maliseet settlement. However, this settlement was characterized by impoverishment. Poor Maliseet families lived in substandard homes at subsistence levels for generations. The poverty of the local economy and prejudices against the Maliseets further limited opportunities for education and employment. Most Maliseet Indians were restricted to predominantly seasonal labor, cutting timber, picking potatoes, raking blueberries and making Christmas wreaths. Maliseets often supplemented meager incomes by making and selling brown ash splint baskets. A bill passed by the Maine legislature in 1947 taxing off-reservation Indians caused a severe economic blow to Maliseets. Over 40 families lost their homes to taxes and during the next two decades became increasingly impoverished. Without a land base, the Maliseet community never had the opportunity to develop as a strong cultural and physical entity with an effective tribal government that could challenge institutional and cultural biases in Aroostook County. Their off-reservation status placed Maliseets in an environment where the pressure to assimilate has been strongly exerted.

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Mi'kmaq and Maliseet Cultural Ancestral Material