ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine in Orono sits on Marsh Island, which is the Penobscot tribe's ancestral homeland.
The university is making efforts to connect with the area's cultural heritage, recognizing and incorporating the area's history on campus.
In 2019, UMaine added bilingual signs across campus that feature the Penobscot language. Now, the university is taking that project one step further.
The university's Native American Programs launched a website earlier this month in partnership with Penobscot Nation that provides pronunciation guides and audio recordings teaching how to read and say the translations.
"English hasn't always been spoken here. There is this deeper layer of diversity of experience and connection to this place," Darren Ranco, chair of Native American Programs and a professor at UMaine, said.
The website has images of every sign on campus that has Penobscot signage. Ranco said he hopes this is a way the school can connect to the land it occupies and help indigenous students feel included on campus.
"That idea of seeing your language, your indigenous language, on these signs here means like 'I'm being recognized,'" Ranco said. "One of the key pathways for any student's success here, whether they're indigenous or not, is how they see themselves reflected in their curriculum and their career, and really connecting to that on a personal level."
Sage Neptune is an indigenous student studying in a graduate program.
"Being an indigenous student on campus, I mean it can be a roller coaster sometimes," Neptune said. Neptune was referring to certain instances of discrimination on campus that led him and other native students with long hair to keep their hair hidden.
While he said the signage is a step in the right direction, there's still more that needs to be done.
"I think the university does have quite a ways to go," Neptune said. "Yeah, this is nice, but I feel like the older, the previous generation fought hard for this."
The new website was created in partnership with Penobscot Nation. Penobscot Nation Ambassador Maulian Dana said the signage across campus is a way to celebrate diversity among students.
"We aren't all the same. It's not a melting pot. It's a beautiful mosaic of cultures, so let's embrace the uniqueness, embrace the differences, and see how that makes everyone stronger and lifts everyone," Dana said.
The next step in this project is to have QR codes on each sign that is connected to the webpage for easy access to the audio translations, Ranco said.