Maine Native American author Donna Loring deposits personal papers to UNE Maine Women Writers Collection

The University of New England's Maine Women Writers Collection is pleased to announce the acquisition of the personal and literary papers of author Donna Loring, former Penobscot Tribal Representative to the Maine State Legislature.

This acquisition is the first given by a Native American woman to the University's collections. It enriches the women's literary collections preserved in the MWWC facility for research and study, and it signals a new direction in the acquisition of papers of women authors from very significant yet underrepresented groups. These papers shed light on the enormously varied life experiences of Loring.

One of the primary purposes of the gift is to make the papers available for research and promote scholarship on Native issues. Projects such as curriculum units will be developed on the UNE - MWWC Website in the future to further encourage study in this subject area. For more information on this aspect of the collection, please consult the MWWC website.

Lecture Series

UNE also announces the first in a new annual lecture series: The Donna M. Loring Lecture. This series will address current or historic Native American or Aboriginal issues, Indigenous rights, as well as women’s issues, civil rights, and issues of fairness and equality as they overlap with the concerns of tribal peoples. At noon on Thursday, October 1, 2009, in the St. Francis Room in the lower level of the Ketchum Library at the Biddeford Campus of UNE, Rebecca Sockbeson, Ph.D. candidate, will deliver the inaugural Loring Lecture, entitled “Weaving Waponahki Policy toward Decolonization."

Shadow of the Eagle

Loring's recent book, In the Shadow of the Eagle, Tilbury House, 2008, chronicles her experiences as the tribal representative to the State Legislature. Maine is the only state in the nation to have tribal representatives seated in its legislative body, a practice that began in the 1820s. Although the representatives from the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe don't have voting power on the house floor, they serve on committees and may chair study committees.

Loring's first session as representative of the Penobscot Nation was a difficult one - a personal struggle for a "voice," but also an opportunity to address key issues: changing offensive names, teaching Native American history in Maine schools, advocating for casinos and racinos, and interpreting sovereign rights for tribes.

Some of the struggles and issues remain as she continues to serve her community, and the perspective she offers - as a Native American and as a legislator - is both valuable and fascinating. This is the first book ever written by a Maine Indian Representative about this unique legislative experience and the first book ever written that tells a story from the inside of the Maine State Legislature.

Loring maintained a journal for four years of her early legislative experience. The book presents her journal from that time but also covers the continuing struggles that Maine Native people face.