The Wabanaki Alliance has released a new guide aimed at helping Maine media use more respectful language and accurate information when reporting on Maine’s indigenous people, 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, the Mi’kmaq Nation, the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The Alliance is a confederation of organizations and individuals that support the full restoration of federal rights to those tribes.
The Alliance believes it is important for Maine media to do the right thing because their reporting can perpetuate incorrect and hurtful terms or more accurate and respectful terms among readers, viewers or listeners. Additionally, the Alliance hopes that getting the language right can be a possible first step toward broader understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples living in Maine and, ultimately, the restoration of all tribal rights.
“I firmly believe in the importance of symbols and language,” said Penobscot Ambassador Maulian Bryant, who is also president of the Alliance. “Everything is connected”.
The style guide was written in conjunction with the Alliance’s all-Indigenous board of directors representing all four tribes. It is organized into five sections, each containing a list of dos and don’ts, as well as why.
“We created the guide because we see certain recurring and problematic usages and conventions when the media covers Wabanaki nations, Wabanaki citizens, Wabanaki-Maine relations, or Indigenous issues in general,” said John Dieffenbacher-Krall, executive director of the Alliance.
The first section attempts to properly name tribes and individuals. It includes Dieffenbacher-Krall’s biggest pet peeve: the term “Maine tribes.”
“It’s totally wrong,” he said. “They predated 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 mentality that implies that the state government owns the tribes.
The first section also instructs media to avoid using generic terms such as Native Americans, Native Peoples or Indigenous Peoples if a story references specific tribes and their citizens.
Taking the time to correctly determine a person’s tribal affiliation, as well as the correct name of their tribe, shows more respect and provides greater dignity, Bryant said.
“We hope we’ve made it easier to talk about individual communities instead of lumping them all together,” he said.
The second section of the guide urges journalists and editors to place Wabanaki-related stories in a more historical and geographical context. Specifically, the section emphasizes that the Wabanaki nations have less sovereignty compared to the other 570 federally recognized tribes in the United States.
This is due to laws passed during land claim agreements negotiated with the Maine government in 1980.
“Do not assume that your audience knows where the Wabanaki nations are located, or how their territorial boundaries came to be what they are today,” the section also states. “Laws that benefit all of Indian Country, except the Wabanaki nations, disadvantage everyone living within Maine’s borders.”
A brief third section addresses how to handle data gaps on the Wabanaki nations. Section four provides a list of Wabanaki sources and experts that media outlets may want to consult with about stories.
Perhaps the most surprising section is the fifth and final section, which includes an audio pronunciation guide to Wabanaki places and peoples.
Dieffenbacher-Krall sent the new guidance to every major newsroom in the state and said she was surprised by the universal approval she’s heard so far.
“No one has questioned it yet,” he said. “I am surprised by the respect I am seeing. I’m aware of.”
Bangor Daily News executive editor Dan MacLeod said he welcomed the guidance and is willing to change the way his newspaper talks about the Wabanaki nations.
“We review our style guide and make adjustments all the time based on the changing nature of the language, as well as feedback from our audience and sources,” MacLeod said. “We will talk in more detail about ways we can improve our coverage of the Wabanaki tribes based on this useful document.”
Retired Maine journalist Jim McCarthy of Brunswick, who is a member of the Alliance, wishes he had had the guide when he was an editor and reporter. McCarthy said it’s not just a sign of respect for a journalist to use the right word, name or language. It’s a question of credibility.
“If you can’t even get a name right,” he said, “how can a reader trust anything else in your newspaper?”
Bryant hopes Maine media won’t see the guide as a “gotcha” document that focuses on past mistakes, but rather as a roadmap to the future.
“I think most people really want to do it right,” he said, “and we want this to be part of the solution.”
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