The People of the Dawn: Native Heritage  Since thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, there have lived near the St. Croix River a people with close spiritual ties to the land. Their descendants, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, are known collectively with other regional tribes as the "People of the Dawn."
 This noble people were among the first natives to observe the arrival of the Europeans, a moment that some believe is recorded on one of the ancient petroglyphs (stone carvings) found in the area. Today the majority of the Passamaquoddy live on one of two reservations, Sipayik (Pleasant Point) and Indian Township (Motahkmikuk) in Western Washington County, Maine. At the Downeast Heritage Museum, you can see, touch, and hear the heritage of the people once believed responsible for the sun's rising each morning, a people whose sense of place and purpose were historically intertwined.  See a hand-made Passamaquoddy canoe created for the museum itself using only traditional tribal tools. (This canoe was Maine Boats and Harbors Magazine's Boat of the Year.) Touch molds of stone carvings that date back centuries. Listen to actual nineteenth century recordings of the Passamaquoddy language. Hear spoken tales of tribal legend and lore. Proudly created to help preserve a culture nearly lost to antiquity, the People of the Dawn exhibit is a tribute to those who first understood the quiet majesty and power of the land now referred to as Downeast Maine.
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Heritage & Exhibits 
