Assignment Maine
In the Shadow of the Eagle Episode 1: Chief Orono's Journey
Special | 2m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
Learn about the Penobscot people's efforts of self-preservation just as the Revolution War begins.
A delegation of Penobscot elders travel to Massachusetts in June 1775 to petition the Provincial Congress in June 1775. Set against the opening days of the American Revolution, the film explores this important act of Wabanaki diplomacy and the Penobscot Nation's efforts to protect its people, homeland, and sovereignty as a new political world was taking shape around them.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Assignment Maine is a local public television program presented by Maine PBS
Assignment: Maine America @ 250 is made possible by Lee Auto Malls, Corient, George Washington's Mount Vernon, and viewers like you!
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Assignment Maine
In the Shadow of the Eagle Episode 1: Chief Orono's Journey
Special | 2m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
A delegation of Penobscot elders travel to Massachusetts in June 1775 to petition the Provincial Congress in June 1775. Set against the opening days of the American Revolution, the film explores this important act of Wabanaki diplomacy and the Penobscot Nation's efforts to protect its people, homeland, and sovereignty as a new political world was taking shape around them.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Where to Watch Assignment Maine
Assignment Maine is available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS app.
[music] [eagle call] In June of 1775, Chief Joseph Orono of the Penobscot Nation set out on a journey by river and sea.
He led a delegation to Watertown to speak to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.
His purpose is to negotiate an agreement and protect tribal lands and resources.
[paddle in water] Etched into his powder horn were magical symbols for protection and power.
Ships that brought trade and conflict.
Muskets that killed and defended and a pipe once offered in peace.
They arrived just two days after the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The smell of gunpowder still hung in the air.
The colonies had chosen rebellion, and the Wabanaki arrived bearing the promise of alliance in return for the protection of their land and hunting grounds.
Within the world of the Wabanaki, the ancestors watched over them through the eyes of the eagle.
A magical and mystical being.
In the world of the colonist, the eagle was a rising emblem of the Republic.
These two different worlds were destined to collide within the shadow of the eagle.
Chief Orono carried a legacy of freedom and honor in that canoe rooted in a millennia of sovereignty and diplomacy not granted by revolution, but carried forward through generations of inherent dignity.
The survival of his people depended on this agreement.
[eagle call] [river, birds chirping] [river, birds chirping] [music]
Support for PBS provided by:
Assignment Maine is a local public television program presented by Maine PBS
Assignment: Maine America @ 250 is made possible by Lee Auto Malls, Corient, George Washington's Mount Vernon, and viewers like you!