Penobscot leader inspires RES students about Maine’s native history

By Lorraine Glowczak

To gain a better understanding of indigenous history and culture, Raymond Elementary School invited John Bear Mitchell, a Penobscot Nation citizen and lecturer specializing in Wabanaki and Multicultural Studies at the University of Maine in Orono, to speak with each class from kindergarten through third grade on Friday, March 29.

Penobscot Nation citizen and UMaine lecturer Jon Bear
Mitchell speaks to a room full of Raymond Elementary
School students last month. He was invited to the school
with the hope to dispel myths and stereotypes about
Native Americans. PHOTO BY GARY HARRIMAN  

Susan Brackett, a fourth-grade teacher at RES who led the project, said the purpose of the presentation was to educate RES students from an American Indian’s perspective and how their life is today.

“We hope to dispel myths and stereotypes about Native Americans and to ignite an interest in students to learn more about past and present Native Americans in Maine,” Brackett said.

Through interactive music and the art of storytelling, Mitchell engaged RES students, offering insights into Maine's indigenous heritage, and addressing concerns regarding the stereotypes and myths people may have about his culture. As a former elementary school teacher and principal, Mitchell has years of experience connecting with students on their level.

The Penobscot leader and educator began each presentation with a call-and-response chant. Mitchell explained why he always begins with this interactive chant when speaking to his audiences, especially young children.

“This gets the students involved, creating a comfortable space for them,” he said. “By engaging children with the chant, they can better immerse themselves in the cultural experience, preparing them for storytelling and singing. When a person feels the experience first, they are more comfortable hearing and listening to it.”

After the chant, Mitchell shared a story that is still taught to Native American children today.

“Long ago, the people of the land experienced a 48-hour snowstorm,” he began. “Realizing they only had three days of food left, the hunters were sent out to search for food. They hunted for a very long time without seeing any signs of animals. They returned to their families, feeling disappointed. The hunters did this the second day. Again, no signs of animals. The third day, the same thing. Feeling sad, they didn’t want to return to the village, disappointing their families who relied upon them for survival.”

He related that the hunters came upon a group of dancing rabbits who seemed to be celebrating. Curious, the hunters asked what they were doing. The rabbits said that their dancing promoted community with each other while celebrating the impending arrival of spring. The hunters, desperate for food, pleaded with the rabbits to help them. Moved by their plight, the rabbits agreed to share their lessons. Guided by the rabbits' counsel, the hunters finally succeeded in their quest, bringing food home to their village.

“The story of ‘The Dancing Rabbit’ teaches lessons about resilience, cooperation, and the importance of respecting nature,” said Mitchell. “It emphasizes the connection between humans and the natural world, highlighting how working together and respecting the rhythms of nature can lead to abundance and prosperity.”

During his presentation, Mitchell also introduced elements of his ancient Passamaquoddy language which included singing songs with rattles and drums all naturally made by hand and spoke to the students about names given to us by our parents.

“How many here have three names, a first, middle, and last name,” he asked the students.

Everyone raised their hands. But only one hand was raised when he asked if their middle name was an animal.

“The purpose is to emphasize our shared humanity. Despite the diversity in our middle names, whether they're uncommon or familiar, we remain a part of today’s modern society,” Mitchell said. “Alongside our Christian names, we still carry on our traditional cultural names, celebrating the richness of our heritage in today's world.”

He also pointed out other ways in which Native American culture integrates into contemporary society.

“We go to movies, we travel to different countries, we are educated, we are like all people with the same needs and wants,” Mitchell said.

Brackett agreed.

“Mitchell’s presentation showed students that Native Americans today are just like them,” she said. “This helped to dispel any misconceptions or stereotypes that the students may have had before his visit.”

RES third grader Shyanne Normand shared what she learned from Mitchell and why.

“It’s kind of cool to learn about his culture because you get to know people differently and get to know what happened in their life.” Normand said. “It was really fun to speak an ancient language, too.”

She said that she realized from attending Mitchell’s presentation that Native Americans are fun teachers who dress in modern clothing.

The students' learning about Native Americans will not stop with Mitchell's presentation.

“To expand upon the students’ education of Native culture, John Bear Mitchell is providing the school with a variety of lesson plans and information that we will be able to use in the future,” Brackett said. <

Lewiston presentation reaffirms faith in human spirit for Windham poet

By Ed Pierce

A Windham resident who believes that written words can soothe emotional pain presented a framed copy of a 14-line poem he composed to Lewiston city councilors during their meeting on Jan. 23.

Windham poet Bob Clark was honored by members of the
Lewiston City Council during a meeting on Jan. 23 for a
poem he wrote last October recognizing the bravery shown
by Lewiston residents following a mass shooting there on
Oct. 25 which killed 18 people and injured 13 others.
COURTESY PHOTO     

Bob Clark composed the poem “Our Candle Vigil” in response to the Oct. 25 news of two separate shooting incidents in Lewiston in which 18 people died and 11 more were injured by a lone gunman.

“I wanted to communicate support for people victimized by the deaths and wounds,” Clark said. “I wanted to acknowledge the collective bravery being shown by citizens as they were directed to shelter in place. Peoples’ plans shifted, and a manhunt was on. I became fearful since Windham was within striking distance of the shooter’s escape. Eventually the danger ended, allowing recovery to begin.”

Clark grew up and spent a great deal of time only a few towns away from Lewiston and said that his aunt had graduated from Bates College there. He had worked for an adult education program in Lewiston after serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in El Salvador in 1980 and has many connections to the area.

“I felt unsettled learning of death and injury details. The ugly truth was on my mind, so I wrote and edited and placed feelings directly into poetry,” he said. “Once the lyrical stanzas were complete, I contacted the Lewiston Sun Journal in the hope that if it was published it might ease some of the shocking pain. In that way, I wanted to communicate with victims that they were not alone in their grief.”

His poem “Our Candle Vigil” was published in the Lewiston Sun Journal in its Nov. 4 editorial section.

At the end of December, Clark visited Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline and took him a copy of the poem. That led Sheline to invite Clark to present a framed copy of “Our Candle Vigil” to the Lewiston City Council at its next scheduled meeting.

According to Clark he is thankful to have found the will to compose the poem and feels it has had a positive effect upon a grieving community.

“It was not pleasant work to align tortuous words that questioned reality and at the same time reflect feelings of agony,” he said. “By contrast it was uplifting to convey the strength of community-wide solidarity. The poem includes both types. Many candlelight vigils have taken place. Those images became my visual connecting point. Above the poem’s title I presented to the council is pictured the glow of 18 candles. This assault is nothing I take lightly.”

Clark told Lewiston city councilors during his presentation that the community showed resolve and determination during the ordeal.

“So, these traits continue and no doubt in the same way that Bostonians showed strength in their battles of Breeds and Bunker Hill. These traits are helping heal and helping move forward, and to gain our footing again,” he said. “Learning about those October crimes caught me off guard and in disbelief. I was listening, watching, and fearful. Realizing the senseless harm, and injury, and death just plain hurts. Soon after, in open grief, gatherings started taking place, community prayers were raised, and candlelight vigils were held. As heartfelt as ideas are, no words erase scars or do away with pain but this short poem arrangement I hope will serve, alongside others, to honor victims of this gruesome assault.”

Since its publication, Clark says that responses to his poem and the Lewiston City Council presentation have furnished him with faith in the importance of humane connections.

“The composition of ‘Our Candle Vigil’ became positioned with an unexpected outcome. My usual writing themes relate nature to people and people to nature, I’ve never characterized crime or punishment,” Clark said. “The events had jarred my senses. I related with deeply seated sorrow. I was hopeful it could bring some comfort. The poem seems to carry that affect. Work with words is a labor of love, I feel rewarded to realize the use of poetical lyrics does benefit recovery.”

He said that the events before and during the Lewiston shootings had a dismal effect on him and for his home state of Maine.

“I never envisioned a type of support that would have me reading a poem at a televised, open city council meeting. But it has happened,” Clark said. “Words are surely not a medical remedy for the fatigue of emotional pain, though they are a way to communicate. They can relate a positive intent. They can show concern. They can calm nerves. I am gladdened that my words have found a positive place in all the stress and madness of these past crazed events. I am also being inspired to find that compassion remains at the ready, it continues to be reliable. I am glad to have joined in to help victims heal from the shooter’s mind-numbing cruelties.” 

Our Candle Vigil

What pain is there when too much has been ground

Into the heart as if a dagger speared

Would cause to suffer wild screaming sounds

’Til eyes are left to grieve alone in tears?

What prayer verse could have been keeping guard

Where people work and prosper next to each

Among their kin and friends from yard to yard

And ask to only practice what they preach?

These shocking deaths for whom we now do bear

A witness to when love is lost to hate

Does rob us all of playfulness and cheer

Until the burden heals its own weight.

Tonight our candle vigil air is filled

With light that reaches far into the hills.

 

Local citizen shows appreciation for two Windham paramedics for a job well done

A woman injured in a fall last year in Windham
was inspired to present a copy of the official
seal of the Windham Fire and Rescue
Department to the paramedics who responded
and helped her. Now recovered, Angela
Guillette, second from left, and her friend,
Patricia McLellan, third from left, present a replica
of the seal painted by McLellan to
paramedics Paul Silver, left, and Edward
Dippolito at the Windham Fire Station on Oct. 2.
COURTESY PHOTO BY BRENT LIBBY   

By Lorraine Glowczak

A part of a paramedic’s job is to respond to 911 calls and address all medical emergencies. That is exactly what Windham Firefighter/Paramedic Paul Silva and Firefighter/EMT Edward Dippolito did in the morning hours a year ago on Sept. 30, 2019 when Angela Guillette fell, shattering her right femur in five places.

“I had just finished paying my taxes at the town hall and was rushing to attend a recording session for The Lighthouse Jubilee’s monthly program on Channel 5 in Portland,” Guillette said of the two-person Gospel and Golden Oldies group. “I usually walk up and down the ramp but this time, I decided to take the stairs. I didn’t pick my foot up high enough and tripped on the rug, falling hard on the floor.”

At first, Guillette did not feel much pain so when a bystander asked if she needed help getting up, Guillette said she just needed a moment to orient herself and that she would be fine.

“But then, I tried to get up and realized I wasn’t able to do so,” Guillette said. “Someone said that we should call an ambulance, so I lifted up my wrist and told her to press the button on the medical alert bracelet my daughters gave me.”

Within minutes, Silva, who has over 20 years of experience and was just one month into his new post in Windham and Dippolito who has 13 years of experience (11 in Windham) were by Guillette’s side. They determined she needed to be taken to the hospital and surgery was performed the next day at Maine Medical Center. Doctors placed a steel rod into the upper part of Guillette’s damaged leg. A woman injured in a fall last year in Windham was inspired to present a copy of the official seal of the Windham Fire and Rescue Department to the paramedics who responded and helped her. Now recovered, Angela Guillette, second from left, and her friend Patricia McLellan, third from left, present a replica of the seal painted by McLellan to paramedics Paul Silver, far left, and Edward Dippolito at
the Windham Fire Station on Oct. 2. COURTESY PHOTO BY BRENT LIBBY 

Most often, paramedics do not know the rest of a patient’s story once the emergency has been addressed and the crisis is over. Guillette, however, had other plans. She and Lighthouse Jubilee singing partner, friend, and artist, Patricia McLellan had an idea.

 “Pat and I both wanted to do something for the two paramedics who offered their help that day,” Guillette said. “She told me that she would paint the Windham Fire and Rescue Department’s official seal and we could give it to them to show our appreciation.”

Guillette and McLellan presented that shield one year later on Friday, Oct. 2 at the North Windham Fire Station. The 2- by 2-foot painting of the department’s seal was presented to Silva and Dippolito with Fire and Rescue Chief Brent Libby in attendance.

“We feel honored that Angela and Pat have gone to this extent to show their appreciation with us and to those of us in our profession,” both Silva and Dippolito said. “We are very grateful.”

“I believe the people who give us assistance and help us during emergency situations are not appreciated enough,” Guillette said. “Emergency technicians and paramedics need to be acknowledged for their efforts and that is one of the reasons why I am doing this today.”

As for the artist who painted the Windham’s Fire and Rescue’s seal, this is not the first seal McLellan has painted.

“Pat has given seals to the West Buxton Fire Department and the Watertown, NH Fire Department,” Guillette said. “She does this because she also wants to acknowledge our heroes.”

Chief Libby shared his thoughts regarding Guillette and McLellan’s kindness.

“We don’t always hear from our patients or know how things have turned out, so when people do come
forward to let us know, it feels good,” Libby said. “Sometimes we don’t always see the best of things during emergencies, so it is good to see the positive outcome.”
Above all, it is positivity and showing love during a time of challenges that inspired Guillette’s recent actions.

“I am a Christian and I believe the first thing Jesus wants from us is to love each other,” Guillette said. “I am dedicated to Jesus and I am here to help spread his love and kindness.”<