Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship

What happened

The Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship appears in Maine news coverage of the Tributary Land Returns, an effort to return land to Wabanaki communities. It has no known website of its own; these details come from news reports and partner statements.

Bangor Daily News, in July 2026, reported that the Commission affirmed the 11 parcels in the effort. It also reported that the Commission supports Wabanaki citizens, nonprofits and tribal governments in caring for returned lands through the Wolankeyutomone Kisi Apaciyewik Fund, a name it translates as "Let us take good care of what has returned." The same article says the Commission and First Light, a group of non-Indigenous land-based organizations, have worked in close partnership for eight years. First Light, the article says, brings the partners together, raises the funds and handles the logistics of purchases.

Maine Public, on June 26, 2026, described the Mi'kmaq Nation's new Aroostook County parcel as the sixth completed project of the Tributary Land Returns. It says the effort is a collaboration between the five federally recognized Wabanaki tribes and seven non-native organizations, across 11 projects. A Conservation Fund representative called it part of a $50 million campaign to return over 50,000 acres, carried out through the Commission's work.

Reported completed returns include 3,400 acres for the Mi'kmaq Nation and 1,327 acres for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.

Good to know. The Commission has no known website or donation channel. Reports give the campaign totals as 50,000 or 52,000 acres and $50 million or $52 million.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error