{"id":13051,"date":"2017-06-09T12:40:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T16:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=13051"},"modified":"2017-06-12T11:06:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T15:06:49","slug":"authentic-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/authentic-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"Authentic Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2017 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

From Staff & Wire Reports<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"SG17-Katahdin\"The Ice Age ensured that everyone living in the State of Maine today is \u201cFrom Away.\u201d We are all exiles from a prior existence, dreamers, immigrants. So any accurate description of Authentic Maine<\/strong> has to begin with, \u201cNo One is From Away<\/strong>.\u201d Or \u201cEveryone is From Away.\u201d<\/strong> Your pick. Being a native used to come with bragging rights, but that was before we\u2019ve come to understand we\u2019re all descended from, on a timeless level, migrant tribes. No one has anything to prove here. <\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re all looking for something; we\u2019ve all arrived. We\u2019re home if we say so. <\/span><\/p>\n

Smarting from being called a \u201cyear-round summer person,\u201d I once proclaimed, \u201cI\u2019m a Mainer, born right here in Portland, in the same hospital as Stephen King<\/strong>\u2013the Maine Eye & Ear
\nInfirmary<\/strong>.\u201d The skeptic narrowed his eyes and asked: \u201cReally? What floor?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Eureka! We shared a smile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bowdoin at 100<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Maine\u2019s pioneering Arctic explorer kickstarted crowd funding before it was cool. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kickstarting was first conducted on April 28, 2009, according to Wikipedia. But the Schooner Bowdoin<\/em> was created through crowd funding that began in 1918. Responding to a slick marketing illustration that showed what the arctic schooner might look like amid the icebergs once she was launched, three hundred fifty benefactors each paid $100 to drum up the $35,000 needed to construct this legendary vessel.<\/span><\/p>\n

If only one of these original marketing \u201cbrochures\u201d still existed. Since this is the Authentic Maine issue, we\u2019ve taken the trouble to discover what may be the last of the brochures from a private collection. Signed by Admiral Donald B. MacMillan himself, the back of the heavy cardboard reads:<\/span><\/p>\n

Auxiliary Arctic Schooner Bowdoin<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To be built for the MacMillan Arctic Association at East Boothbay, Maine, in May-July, 1920.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Signed) D. B. MacMillan<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Rescued from neglect, Bowdoin<\/em> is now the pride of Maine Maritime Academy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bowdoin<\/em> was declared the official sailing vessel of the state of Maine in 1986. In 1989 Bowdoin<\/em> was designated a National Historic Landmark in recognition for her significant role in Arctic exploration.<\/span>K<\/span><\/p>\n

Spirit of the Mountain<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

There\u2019s an ancient magic in Maine\u2019s highest mountain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Modern Myths<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Whether or not they\u2019ve heard the song \u201cClimb Ev\u2019ry Mountain,\u201d some Penobscot natives are shy about climbing to the top of Mount Katahdin.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because it\u2019s holy ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it Wuchhosen<\/em>, the wind bird, who lives up there, flapping his wings to create great storms? Or is it the Spirit of Katahdin, jealous of his solitude. Or is it the dominion of Gluskap, creator of the Earth? Whatever your choice of spirits, the aspect of the supernatural is strong.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a piece for Sierra Magazine<\/em>, Jason Mark points to Robert Moor\u2019s book On Trails<\/em> for an elevated example of the sublime as well as the tension that existed between Penobscot guides and the rusticating explorers who employed them. \u201cIn 1846, Henry David Thoreau made a failed bid to climb Mount Katahdin, the highest peak in the state of Maine. He and two companions made their way to its base by canoe, guided by an old Indian man named Louis Neptune, who advised Thoreau to leave a bottle of rum on top of the mountain to appease the mountain spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thoreau and his party \u201cgot lost in the fog and never made it to the summit,\u201d according to Moor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Time has erased the trifling detail of who ended up with the the rum.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Moor notes that while descening, alarmed by the savage majesty of the mountain\u2019s hunched shoulders around him, Thoreau experienced a 150-proof insight. Sierra<\/em> Magazine calls it a \u201cmeltdown\u201d: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was that Earth of which we have heard, made out of Chaos and Old Night. Here was no man\u2019s garden, but the unhandselled globe. It was not lawn, nor pasture, nor mead, nor woodland, nor lea, nor arable, nor wasteland\u2026Man was not to be associated with it. It was Matter, vast, terrific\u2026rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! the solid <\/em>earth! the actual<\/em> world! the common sense! Contact! Contact!\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ancient Connections<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Barry Dana<\/em><\/strong> grew up on the Penobscot River and currently works to teach Wabanaki culture to\u00a0 <\/span>native youth to preserve the traditions of his people. We talk to the tribal leader about the spiritual significance of the mountain for the Penobscots. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What was your first impression of Katahdin, and why is the summit so spiritually signifiant to Penobscots?<\/span><\/p>\n

I first visited Mt. Katahdin as a freshman in high school on a class trip. I was blown away with what I saw and have returned every year to maintain that connection. Why would I agree to give, convey, or teach about that which is sacred to me and my people, the Wabanaki? Because if I don\u2019t, it will be even more likely that people will continue to disrespect the mountain. When I say mountain, it\u2019s not just the top but the entire area that makes up the mountain, from the top down to as far down as the blueberry ledges, including all the designated campgrounds. <\/span><\/p>\n

What are your personal feelings about the top of Katahdin? Have you ever been there?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019ve been to the top of Katahdin. I\u2019ve climbed it in search of enlightenment, guided by my intuition. Indigenous cultures all over the globe look to the mountains for spiritual insight. Too many explorers and climbers confuse this inner voice of mountaintop connection with a need to \u201cconquer\u201d the mountain. I think this to be unfortunate because, should they not reach the peak, they feel as though they have failed. Too much ego robs one of spiritual happiness.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1846, Louis Neptune advised Thoreau to bring a bottle of rum to place for the spirit at the top of the mountain. Why?<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll never truly know why Louis Neptune told Thoreau what he did, but I see it as a word of caution. And a bottle of alcohol as an offering? I have no idea! That makes no sense and is definitely not in keeping with true native religious thinking. But Penobscots are really good at playing tricks and pulling your leg\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

Can you tell me if it\u2019s true that many members of the Penobscot Tribe refuse to climb to the very top of Katahdin?<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do we natives say not to go there? Think about who we say it to: white people who need to conquer a sacred place. That does not lead to good karma. For my tribe, we see Katahdin as the place of our birth, where life began. It can\u2019t get any more special than that. We still live within its shadow and honor our birth by returning to the mountain. We go to the top if need be for spiritual enlightenment and ceremony, some simply for the pleasure that comes from looking out across so many hundreds of miles. It\u2019s medicine for the soul. But we recognize that it is a mountain with an angry mood at times. It has its own weather\u2013storms that can pop up without warning. The old stories about not going to the top of Katahdin were more of a caution. Be mindful of why you feel the need to be there. Keep an eye on the weather. <\/span><\/p>\n

What exact place in Maine is most authentic to you, and why? If there\u2019s such a thing as a cradle of authenticity in Maine, where and what would that be?<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not view Katahdin as part of Baxter State Park, nor do I view my homeland as \u201cMaine.\u201d So when asked, I can\u2019t say what or where is \u201cauthentic.\u201d Maine is not a place unto itself. This area that includes the ocean, rivers, lakes, and mountains is all one living ecosystem dependant upon the whole in order to thrive. It\u2019s one living organism. We call it Wabanakigok<\/em>: Land of the Rising Sun.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summerguide 2017
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