Problematic Place Names in Maine and How to Make Positive Change

Place Justice is a statewide truth-seeking and historical recovery initiative of thePermanent Commissionon the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations that seeks to engage Wabanaki and Maine communities in examining a wide range of commemorative practices to better understand and respond to the ways in which racialized and Indigenous populations are represented in or absent from the narratives inscribed on our natural and built environment.

Place Justice

Place names communicate ideas about who belongs and what matters. Here in Maine, problematic names abound. Learn what we can do about them.

Place Justice Event Series

A free series of panel discussions and film screenings to engage the public in considering the often complex and contentious issues related to offensive place names and other problematic commemorative practices in the place now known as Maine.

<h4>Please note: This event, originally scheduled for 12/14/23, has been rescheduled for 1/4/24 at 5:30 pm.</h4> Place names have a lot to teach us about our history, values, and present-day relationships with one another. Even when these names fade into the backdrop of our lives, they continue to inform our sense of place in subtle but important ways, communicating ideas about who belongs and what matters.Here in Maine, racist and problematic place names have long marred the landscape and continue to impact our communities today. Examining this toponymic landscape through an equity lens provides insights into whose perspectives have been privileged and, by contrast, whose experiences have been dismissed and forgotten.Which members of our communities get to see themselves reflected on the landscape? What could place justice actually mean?

The Place Justice initiative was launched in January 2023 by the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations and is carried out in partnership with Atlantic Black Box.Join members of the Place Justice team and national place name advocates on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 5:30 pm EST for an online panel event where they will share findings from their research into Maine’s problematic place names, offer guidance for equitable and just approaches to naming, describe the current regulatory process in Maine, note important movement at the national level, and voice their support for a new State Names Board.

Rachel Talbot RossSpeaker of the Maine House, Co-Chair of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations Richard SilliboyMi’kmaq Nation Vice Chief, Commissioner at the Permanent Commission; Place Justice Advisory Council Member Stephen M. DicksonMaine State Geologist, Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry; Place Justice Advisory Council Member Marcelle MedfordAssistant Professor of Sociology at Bates College; Commissioner at the Permanent Commission; Place Justice Advisory Council Member Jessica Lambert, Choctaw NationPolicy Fellow at The Wilderness Society; Founding member of the Coalition for Outdoor Renaming &amp; Education Meadow DibbleExecutive Director, Atlantic Black Box; Place Justice Project Co-Lead Erika ArthurProgram Associate, Atlantic Black Box; Place Justice Project Co-Lead

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Problematic Place Names in Maine and How to Make Positive Change

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