Leaning in is just how Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana stands.

By Gwen Thompson

You wrote  an article for Portland Magazine in 2018 called “I’m Not Your Mascot.” Tell us about your role in getting LD 944 “An Act To Ban Native American Mascots in All Public Schools” through the state legislature.

My mascot-removal activism started way back in my teenage years, and my tribal-ambassador appointment has been a great opportunity to bring that into my current policy-making role at the government level. I collaborated with Representative Benjamin Collings (D-Portland) to submit legislation that was signed by Governor Mills in 2019. This law sends a really clear message that Maine has set a standard in education that we’re not going to allow institutional racism in our schools. Maine was the first state to accomplish this, and this is one bright spot in a long, complicated past history between the tribes and the state of Maine. Getting Columbus Day changed to Indigenous People’s Day in Maine is another high point I’ve personally been working on for quite some time around the state.

Read the full story in the digital magazine above.