The Wabanaki Alliance has released a new guide aimed at helping Maine media outlets use more respectful language and accurate information when reporting on Indigenous peoples in Maine, as well as their history, land, and culture.
The online style manual covers the four federally recognized tribes in Maine, known collectively as the Wabanaki Nations. They are the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Penobscot Nation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The Alliance is a confederation of organizations and individuals supporting the full restoration of federal rights to those tribes.
The Alliance believes it’s important for Maine media to get it right because its reporting can either perpetuate incorrect, hurtful terms, or more precise and respectful ones among readers, viewers or listeners. Moreover, the Alliance hopes getting the language right can be a potential first step toward wider understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples living in Maine and, ultimately, the restoration of full tribal rights.
“I’m a big believer in how much symbols and language matter,” said Penobscot Ambassador Maulian Bryant, who is also president of the Alliance. “It’s all connected.”
The style guide was written in conjunction with the Alliance’s completely Indigenous board of directors representing the four tribes. It is organized in five sections, each containing a list of specific “dos” and “don’ts,” as well as the reasons why.
“We created the guide because we observe certain recurring, problematic usages and conventions when the media covers Wabanaki Nations, Wabanaki citizens, Wabanaki-Maine relations, or Indigenous issues more broadly,” said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the Alliance.
The first section deals with properly naming tribes and individuals. It includes Dieffenbacher-Krall’s biggest pet peeve, the term “Maine’s tribes.”
“It’s flat-out wrong,” he said. “They preceded Maine by at least 10,000 years.”
The use of the possessive in this case, Dieffenbacher-Krall said, is a direct reflection of a paternalistic, colonial mindset which insinuates the state government owns the tribes.
The first section also instructs the media to avoid using generic terms like Native Americans, Native people, or Indigenous people if a story references specific tribes and their citizens.
Taking the time to get a person’s tribal affiliation right, as well as the correct name of their tribe, shows more respect and affords greater dignity, Bryant said.
“We’ve hopefully made it easier to talk about individual communities instead of lumping them all together,” she said.
The guide’s second section urges reporters and editors to place Wabanaki-related stories in more historical and geographic context. Specifically, the section emphasizes that Wabanaki Nations have less sovereignty compared to the 570 other federally recognized tribes in the United States.
This is due to laws passed during land claim settlements brokered with Maine’s government in 1980.
“Don’t assume your audience knows where Wabanaki Nations are located, or how their territorial boundaries came to be what they currently are,” the section also states. “Laws that benefit all of Indian Country except the Wabanaki Nations put everyone who lives within Maine’s borders at a disadvantage.”
A short third section deals with how to handle data gaps concerning Wabanaki Nations. Section four provides a list of Wabanaki sources and experts the media may want to consult with on stories.
Perhaps the most surprising section is the fifth and final one, which includes an audio pronunciation guide to Wabanaki places and peoples.
Dieffenbacher-Krall sent the new guide to every major newsroom in the state and said he’s been surprised by the universal approval he’s heard so far.
“Nobody has challenged it yet,” he said. “I’m surprised at the respect I’m seeing. I appreciate that.”
Bangor Daily News Executive Editor Dan MacLeod said he’s received the guide and is open to changing the way his paper talks about Wabanaki Nations.
“We review our style guide and make adjustments all the time based on the changing nature of language as well as feedback from our audience and sources,” MacLeod said. “We’ll talk in more detail about ways we can improve our coverage of Wabanaki tribes based on this helpful document.”
Retired Maine newspaperman Jim McCarthy of Brunswick, who is a member of the Alliance, wishes he’d had the guide when he was a working editor and reporter. McCarthy said it’s not just a sign of respect for a reporter to use the correct word, name or language. It’s an issue of credibility.
“If you can’t even get a name right,” he said, “how can a reader trust anything else in your paper?”
Bryant hopes Maine’s media won’t see the guide as a “gotcha” document dwelling on past wrongs but rather a roadmap to the future.
“I think most people really do want to get it right,” she said, “and we want this to be part of the solution.”
