Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is a stunning 7,900 square-foot building and 23-acre site atop Lookout Mountain created to welcome the global public to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument is located within the present and traditional homelands of the Penobscot Nation. The land and waters hold special significance to the Penobscot Nation and is inextricably linked with Penobscot culture, ceremonies, oral traditions, language, history, and Indigenous stewardship which continues the respectful relationship with the land and waterways that has gone back more than 11,000 years. Katahdin is a culturally significant place to the Wabanaki people where connecting watersheds provide important travel routes for Wabanaki people of Maine, comprised of Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations.
At the beginning of the project there were concerns raised by Wabanaki advisors about cultural appropriation. James E. Francis (Penobscot) and Suzanne Greenlaw (Maliseet) invited Jane to become an advisor on the project. Meeting with Elliotsville Foundation leadership, Jane worked with Lucas St Clair to temporarily pause the building development so that all parties involved could have significant Indigenous intellectual and cultural property training (including for architects, designers and construction team).
With the Wabanaki Advisory Board, Jane then worked to establish a ground breaking Memorandum of Understanding between the Wabanaki Advisory Board and the Foundation addressing attribution, governance, decision making, permissions and benefit sharing. This led to foundational changes in practice including changes in employment contracts to reflect Wabanaki ICIP rights, Wabanaki inclusion in the architectural plans, Wabanaki governance and decision-making and a complete re-orienting about the narratives and art work included in the building. This pivot secured Wabanaki rights and created a working environment of collaboration, trust and artistic innovation. It also led to the creation of the new Wabanaki Community Fund - a fully Indigneous-led and governed 501c3 not for profit helping to correct centuries of underinvestment by fueling the ideas, energy, and determination that have always existed in Wabanaki communities.
