The Mi'kmaq Nation acquired an 83-acre parcel called Pugweliget adjacent to its northernmost Maine reservation, next to a community center and housing for 48 residents. The Trust for Public Land raised funds to meet the seller's timeline, enabling a swift transfer. This is the Nation's second land return this year after a 3,400-acre title secured in June. Pugweliget is part of the Tributary Land Returns effort to return more than 50,000 acres to Wabanaki communities.
Land Back Milestone: Mi'kmaq Nation Reclaims 83 Acres Adjacent to Northern Maine Reservation
The acquired land is adjacent to tribal housing.
The Mi'kmaq Nation has expanded its land base by acquiring an 83-acre parcel adjacent to its northernmost reservation in Maine. The tract sits next to a community center and tribal housing that currently shelter 48 residents, immediately benefiting neighbors while opening access to the wider tribal community.
The Nation partnered with the land-conservation nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) after the parcel's owner offered the property directly to the Tribe before listing it. TPL mobilized funds quickly to meet the seller's timeline and ensure a prompt transfer of the deed to the Mi'kmaq Nation.
The property is named Pugweliget — a Mi'kmaq word meaning "living together in a group" — and marks the Nation's second land return this year. In June, the Tribe secured title to 3,400 acres in Aroostook County, effectively doubling its holdings.
Shannon Hill, Environmental Health Director for the Mi'kmaq Nation, said the parcel will be open to all tribal members for foraging, hunting, fishing and cultural practices, emphasizing the cultural and daily-life significance of reclaimed land.
"The Mi'kmaq Nation is honored to have been entrusted with another land return this year. Although this property has much fewer acres than the 3,400-acre land return earlier this summer, each land return is unique and meaningful in its own way," Hill said. "The ability to take a walk and connect with the land as we did thousands of years ago without fear of trespassing is of far greater importance here than the number of acres."
Pugweliget is part of the broader Tributary Land Returns initiative, a collaboration between the five federally recognized Wabanaki Tribes and seven non-native organizations to return more than 50,000 acres to Wabanaki communities across 11 projects. When complete, the Tributary Land Returns will represent the largest return of private lands to Indigenous communities in U.S. history; seven of the projects have been completed since 2019.
This acquisition underscores a growing movement of land repatriation that blends conservation resources, tribal leadership and community priorities to restore access to traditional territories and everyday cultural practices.
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