{"id":4950,"date":"2022-05-26T09:50:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T13:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=4950"},"modified":"2022-06-05T21:39:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T01:39:27","slug":"renaming-a-park-letter-to-brunswick-town-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=4950","title":{"rendered":"Renaming a Park: Letter to Brunswick Town Council"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 Durham Friends Letter to the Brunswick Town Council<\/a> (same text below)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Durham Friends Meeting (Quaker)<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

532 Quaker Meeting House Road, Durham, MAINE 04222<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

May 27, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the Town Councilors of Brunswick,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We write to urge the Town of Brunswick to change the name of its 250th<\/sup> Anniversary Park to Pejepscot Park, and to use the occasion of the renaming to begin telling a truer, more inclusive history of human habitation along the lower Androscoggin River.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those signing this letter are residents of Brunswick (11 of us) and residents of adjoining towns (another 22).  We are all members of Durham Friends Meeting, the Quaker Meeting just over the border from Brunswick in Durham.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe that it is important to remember that Indigenous people have lived in this region for thousands of years.  They have fished, hunted, and grew food throughout the Androscoggin watershed. At the site of today\u2019s park, they came seasonally to catch salmon and alewives and others as these fish moved upriver to spawn.  Likely they had an encampment where the park is now sited.  European settlers wanted to make the same use of the fishery, and so they constructed a fort overlooking the lower falls of the Androscoggin, and they built a road from the fort to Maquoit Bay \u2013 along a pathway that the Abenaki people portaged their canoes \u2013 the same road that is today\u2019s Maine Street and Maquoit Road.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the importance of this site for both the Abenaki and the European settlers, it is simply not right to call this park by a name suggesting that its history began in 1739.  There are important stories about this human settlement well before that date, and the precise location of this park is especially important in these stories for both the Abenaki and the European settlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a plaque in the park today that reads \u201cHistoric Site: When the Abenaki were the sole inhabitants of this land, the water here was called Ammoscoggin. The word means \u2018Fish coming in Spring.\u2019\u201d This is one form of recognition, but we urge additional recognition by renaming the park.  Pejepscot is what the Abenaki called the Androscoggin River below the last falls, the stretch of river for which the park provides a splendid view.  Early maps by Europeans also call this stretch of the river the Pejepscot.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For these reasons, and in recognition of the complexity of our mutual history with the Abenaki, we respectfully urge you to consider the name Pejepscot Park, a name that honors and raises up the first inhabitants of this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                      Approved by Durham Friends Meeting,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                      At its Business Meeting, April 24, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact person: Ingrid Chalufour<\/strong>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

clerk of Durham Friends Meeting\u2019s Peace & Social Concerns Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ichalufour@gmail.com<\/a>, 207-483-2620<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the individual members of Durham Friends Meeting are the following, who asked that their signatures be included: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Brunswick:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Bolshaw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingrid Chalufour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlotte Anne Curtis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craig Freshley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theresa Hartford<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mey Hasbrook<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linda Muller<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ann Ruthsdottir<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathy Jo Williams<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cindy Wood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Wood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Topsham: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Bennett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ellen Bennett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Auburn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rene\u00e9 Cot\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy Schlotterbeck<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Bath<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret Leitch Copeland <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leslie Manning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Bowdoinham<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. Jo-an Jacobus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Durham<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laurie Caton-Lemos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ezra Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Freeport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helen Clarkson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Sprogell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Harpswell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy Batson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Eaton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nancy Marstaller<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Norway<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patti-Ann Douglas <\/p>\n\n\n\n

James R. Douglas\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Portland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyn Clarke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Richmond<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liana Thompson-Knight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of South Portland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara Simon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Sumner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorothy Hinshaw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward Hinshaw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents of Yarmouth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cushing Anthony<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently residing Out-of-State<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joyce Gibson (Massachusetts)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown Lethem (California)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 Durham Friends Letter to the Brunswick Town Council (same text below) Durham Friends Meeting (Quaker) 532 Quaker Meeting House Road, Durham, MAINE 04222 May 27, 2022 To the Town Councilors of Brunswick, We write to urge the Town of Brunswick … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peace-and-social-concerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rLvf-1hQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4950"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4976,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4950\/revisions\/4976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}