The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians is comprised of some 800 members and is lead by a Tribal Chief. A smaller band of the larger Maliseet Nation of New Brunswick, Canada, the Houlton Band calls the Meduxnekeag River home. The Maliseet's are river people who have traditionally been hunters and gathers in the St. John River basin, of which the Meduxnekeag is a tributary. The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (HBMI) has been federally recognized as a government by the United States of America since October of 1980. Before contact with Europeans, the Maliseet's occupied much of what is now considered the eastern border line of the U.S. and Canada in northern New England. After the Jay Treaty in 1794, the Maliseet's obtained free border crossing rights between the two countries because their villages spanned both countries.
They maintain a website at www.maliseets.com (See link) and can be contacted at (207) 532-4273; (800) 564-8524 (In State); (800) 545-8524 (Out of State). Please see website for full information.
The majority of the 1000 members of the Aroostook Band of Micmac's live within Aroostook County, located in Northern Maine (Presque Isle). As far as we know, from the time immemorial the Micmac's have occupied the lands south and east of the Gulf of Saint Laurence, the Maritime Provinces and other regions along the Atlantic Seaboard of Northeastern America. The Micmac Nation, today, is composed of seven districts of 29 bands with a population of approximately 30 thousand. Like other tribes in Maine, the Micmac, continue to produce a variety of traditional baskets made of splint ash wood, birch bark, and split cedar. On November 26, 1991 after complex legal maneuvering and political lobbying the Aroostook Band of Micmac's finally achieved Federal Recognition with the passage of the Aroostook Band of Mimacs Settlement Act.
They maintain a website at www.micmac-nsn.gov (See link) and can be contacted at (207) 764-1972; (800) 355-1435; or by fax (207) 764-7667. Please see website for full information.
