History & Culture

The art of weaving sweetgrass baskets is passed through generations of the Passamaquoddy. Some of these baskets are on display in the Saint Croix Island IHS Visitor Center.

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Land Acknowledgment

The Wabanaki Confederacy, the people of the dawn, have lived in harmony with the land and waters of what is now called Maine for more than 13,000 years.

We recognize that Saint Croix Island International Historic Site sits upon ancestral, unceded homelands of the Passamaquoddy, ‘the people who spear pollock’. The island represents the first contact between the French and Passamaquoddy. The French understood little about the land and environment, and they were assisted in their survival by the Passamaquoddy following the harsh winter of 1604-05.

We acknowledge the Passamaquoddy people are a distinct, sovereign, legal and political entity with their own powers of self-governance and self-determination and still reside in their ancestral homeland Sipayik, Motahkomikuk, Qonasqamkuk.

Prior to the French Presence

The Passamaquoddy people have been in the St. Croix River Valley of Maine from time immemorial, well before recorded western history. The Passamaquoddy call themselves Peskotomahkati (Bes-tum-moo-cudi) and they are a part of the Wabanaki Confederacy, a group of five tribes that include the Abenaki, Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, and the Penobscot. The Wabanaki name means “people of the dawnland” – the first to see the sunrise – and comes from their homelands being so far east of what is considered North America today. Dawn arrives first on the land cared for by the Wabanaki, and therefore, in part, by the Passamaquoddy.

The Passamaquoddy cared for the land and lived collaboratively with it. The Passamaquoddy people roamed through the area in accordance with the seasons, dictated by the availability of food. Summers would be spent around the coasts and islands of the area. They would harvest seafood and sweetgrass for basket making. With the cold weather, they moved inland and hunted bigger game for food and other materials of value for living.

The Passamaquoddy were not the only people to recognize the abundance of seafood in the area. European explorers came to the area of modern-day Nova Scotia and Maine to find that the waters of the region were rich in cod. After fishing extensively, the Portuguese made some landfall and kidnapped native people to sell in Europe to help finance their trips. Though the Portuguese were the dominant power in northern North America in the 1500s, the French would eventually start to explore the area. While the Europeans wanted to control and own lands, the Passamaquoddy and other members of the Wabanaki Confederacy did not see land as something to be owned, but instead as something to be shared and cared for.

 

During their stay on the island, the French lost about half of their men from scurvy. Our interpretive trail highlights the story of the French through interpretive panels and bronze sculptures.

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The French of 1604

Located on the ancestral homelands of the Wabanaki, Saint Croix Island International Historic Site commemorated the first French attempt to colonize the territory they called l’Acadie. This site tells the story of one of the earliest European settlements in North America. In 1604, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, sailed from France across the Atlantic Ocean to North America to pursue his beaver pelt monopoly. 78 men, including cartographer Samuel Champlain, stayed with Dugua for the winter. The men found Saint Croix Island to be defensible against any other European attempts to take their claim. The French set to work immediately, building a number of dwellings and a storehouse, and fortifying the island with a single cannon facing down the river. Wheat was planted on the mainland, though they would find out that the island’s soil was far too sandy to grow crops. The Frenchmen met the Passamaquoddy who supplied the furs the French sought in exchange for hatchets, knives, glass beads, metal cookware, and other goods. For many Passamaquoddy, this was their first direct encounter with Europeans.

Unfortunately, as winter came about, the French would find that the climate was not similar to that of France. Having only salted port and bread to eat, the Frenchmen lacked an intake of vitamin C and fell prey to scurvy. 35 out of the 79 men died of this disease, and were buried in a small unmarked cemetery on Saint Croix Island. In the following spring of 1605, the Passamaquoddy returned from their winter sojourn to the shores of Saint Croix Island. With their help, the health of the remaining French improved. Pierre Dugua made the decision to move their community to Port Royale, in today’s Nova Scotia. The valuable insights gained from that winter on Saint Croix Island formed the foundations of ‘successful’ settlements by the French and solidified the presence of French people in North America.

 

The Red Beach Industrial Complex was prominent during the 1850s. Some of the supports from these structures can be seen in the park during low tide.

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Beyond the French Landing

Between 1604 and the 1800s, Saint Croix Island was owned by many private landowners.

Throughout the 1800s, the mainland ‘red beach’ area was used for industrial purposes by locals. Shipbuilding and granite quarrying were small industries for a time, though there are no remnants of these uses within the park.

The Red Beach Plaster Mill was on the larger side of industrial operations that took place in the area that now holds our interpretive trail. When the tide recedes, wooden remains of the mill complex can be seen near the rocky beach. Click here to learn more about the Red Beach Industrial Complex.

Opening in 1856, the Saint Croix River Light would remain active for about 100 years. It stood on the island as an octagonal structure built into the roof of the lighthouse keeper’s home. The light was automated towards the end of its time in operation. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was destroyed by a fire in 1976 – only the boathouse remains on Saint Croix Island today.

Congress authorized the establishment of Saint Croix Island National Monument in 1949, which became effective on June 30, 1968. The NPS unit was redesignated as an international historic site on September 25, 1984.

In 2004, bronze statues were fabricated to celebrate the 400th anniversary since the French landed on the mainland.

To learn more, view a timeline of Saint Croix Island's past 400 years and explore the articles, people, and places below.