Maine officials are coming under fire after handing a $132,000 contract to a racial justice group but ending with a 30-minute webinar about “problematic” place names.
The cost of the lecture was borne by taxpayers because the state commissioned it to the non-profit organization Atlantic Black Box (ABB), which claims to “involve the public in the collective rewriting of our regional history.”
In recordings from this week's webinar, ABB founder Meadow Dibble urged participants to acknowledge the suffering caused by “white settlers” while listing place names that should offend Maine residents.
The cities of Norway and Mexico were considered offensive, “Old Maid Rock” was considered sexist, and Maine should be renamed “Dawnland” to represent the original name of the Wabanaki tribe of Native Americans, Dibble argued.
“You could say that reading Maine’s place names is like reading a book,” Dibble said. “And some people will tell you it's a comedy. But if you read these names through the lens of racial justice, this book might read more like a horror novel.”
The seminar was also attended by a Native American representative who claimed that she researches the names of places before traveling and specifically avoids places that sound “suspicious.”
Atlantic Black Box presented a slideshow about Maine's “problematic” place names, which came after a $132,000 contract was struck with the state to “reckon with our region's complicity in the slave trade.”
Meadow Dibble, the founder of Atlantic Black Box, used the presentation to point out the “painful history behind some of these names that normalized white supremacy and violence against BIPOC communities.”
The wake, first reported by The Maine Wire, reportedly began with Dibble listing her pronouns as “they/them” before asking participants to once again evaluate “what's behind the names that are everywhere.” are around us.”
Among the names she objected to were the small island of Nipple in Maine and the naming of Maine itself, which she said would better fit the Wabanaki tribe's “Dawnland.”
The host then showed a standard sign with place names, with the places replaced by nicknames such as “Land Thief Hill,” “Enslaver Lake,” and “White Supremacy Hill.”
Certain place names were also thought to “objectify or denigrate women, sexualize the landscape, or play on tropes of loose women and witches” – with “Old Maid Rock” seen as particularly concerning.
Dibble added that “this is an issue that deserves its own presentation,” possibly after another taxpayer-funded contract.
She continued: “Once we know what lies behind the names that are all around us, once we can see what lies behind the facade, we must ask ourselves whether we want to continue to honor them. “
“Of course, many Wabanaki elders and many knowledge keepers in Maine’s multigenerational Black families are aware of the painful history behind some of these names that normalized white supremacy and violence against BIPOC communities.”
“And we know that repeated, constant exposure is harmful.”
The webinar called for an end to the use of alphanumeric codes for certain locations in northern Maine, specifying that they would only be named for the purpose of “resource exploitation.”
“Maine is full of soulless quantifiers that were used to distribute land to timber barons. “And I just want to compare these numerical names designed to facilitate resource extraction to Dawnland,” Dibble said.
The small island of Nipple, Maine (pictured) reportedly came under fire during the wake-up presentation
Dibble also objected to counties in Maine named after America's founding fathers, including Washington, Hancock and Franklin counties.
“Franklin County was named after founder Benjamin Franklin, who was actively involved in the slave trade and owned slaves before becoming an abolitionist,” she said.
The webinar was reportedly the end result of ABB's $132,000 contract with the state, which, according to Maine on its government website, “will begin the critical work of investigating and reckoning with our region's complicity in the slave trade.”
In the slideshow presentation, others then chimed in and shared their struggles with Maine place names. Maine state geologist Steve Dickson noted that in his work he has to use “objectionable” maps that reflect old sites before they were renamed.
Jessica Lambert, a Native American activist and member of the state's Wilderness Society, also spoke about the direct harm the “offensive” names have on her as she claims to be unable to travel to certain places.
“When you change the name from an honorific name to a name that denigrates people, that is racist, that is derogatory, you change that space,” Lambert said.
Jessica Lambert (pictured), Native American activist and member of the Federal Wilderness Society, spoke about the direct harm the “offensive” names have on her, saying: “Often I look on Google Maps and see a name like that. “I think this is suspicious.
“They're upsetting the balance of power, and I know that as an Indigenous person, when I go out a lot, I'll look on Google Maps for a name that I like, that's suspicious, or oh, that's so derogatory.” .
“And I don't want to go there. 'I don't feel comfortable going there.'
The webinar reportedly ended with a discussion of an upcoming state law that would establish a state naming authority. This is a move to replace names of websites the committee deems offensive.
The bill, up for a vote on Jan. 23, would also require that future members of the State Names Authority include one Black person and one Native American person.