A MALISEET PERSPECTIVE OF THE MEDUXNEKEAG RIVER

A.M. Reed, D.L. Joseph, and S.A. Venno. Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Natural Resources Department, RR3 Box 4250, Houlton, ME 04730

The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indian's (HBMI) Water Resources Department, with funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and technical assistance from River Watch Network, is collecting invertebrate samples from the Meduxnekeag River. During the summer of 1998, we sampled benthic macroinvertebrates at five sites along the Meduxnekeag River and one reference site on the Mattawamkeag River. We are working with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), using their protocol for analyzing the invertebrate communities as one part of the state's classification system. When the Maliseets became federally recognized as a result of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, the negotiation of water and land jurisdiction was deferred to a later date. Traditionally, tribes in Maine hunted, fished and gathered along the rivers on which they lived, including the headwaters. Maliseet people are associated with the St. John River, of which the Meduxnekeag River is a tributary. Maliseets still use the Meduxnekeag for sustenance and recreation and its banks provide Brown Ash for baskets as well as fiddleheads and wild onions. Maine DEP currently designates the Meduxnekeag as a class B river. Our sampling efforts will enable us to assess whether the river is meeting its state classification each year, identify sites needing remediation, and provide baseline data for setting tribal water quality standards in the future