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Contributing Institution
Maine State Archives
Document Type
Text
Exact Creation Date
1-26-1821
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Neptune, John, "Petition of Chief John Neptune of the Penobscot Tribe" (1821). Wabanaki Relations. 3.
https://digitalmaine.com/arc_200_exhibit_wabanaki_relations/3
Rights Statement
No Copyright - United States. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
Description
This petition from John Neptune and the other Chiefs of the Penobscot Tribe requests that the Maine Legislature pass a law to prevent the destruction of fish in the Penobscot River. After decades of settlers building fish weirs and dams, fish could no longer ascend the river to spawn. The fisheries could no longer sustain the tribe’s livelihood. They proposed a law that would prohibit additional weirs and limit fishing to two days per week to allow fish stocks to recover. The Maine Legislature did not adopt the Penobscot’s proposal to restore this valuable ecosystem.