Wabanaki Seek Healing and Justice in 'Dawnland'

“As Indigenous tribes fight new challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and their own voting rights, a documentary highlights one recent attempt to reckon with the genocidal policies that led to the act’s creation. 

“Dawnland,” which airs on PBS tonight (November 5), takes viewers inside the groundbreaking Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)—the first TRC to address Indigenous tribes’ relationship with child welfare institutions in the United States. After being signed into existence by five Wabanaki chiefs and Governor Paul LePage (R-Maine), the TRC began cataloging testimonials from Wabanaki tribal members who survived forced child relocation.”

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