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The projects spurred opposition all around Passamaquoddy Bay and across borders,
with marches, rallies, and concerts, objections from all levels of the Canadian govern-
ment, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of the Interior, and Environmental
Protection Agency.

In 2005, the tribal council signed a lease agreement with Quoddy Bay LNG,
which was approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In response, David, Hilda,
and other tribal members organized a group called Nulankeyutomonen Nkihtahkomi-
kumon (NN, “We take care of our land”). Two lawsuits against the BIA followed: for
failing to perform its statutory Indian Trust obligations by approving the lease without
more input from the tribe or an environmental assessment and then for failing to com-
ply with NN’s Freedom of Information Act requests for documents about the agree-
ment. In 2004, Hilda was elected to the tribal council with the platform – among other
issues – of not accepting the project without more consultation. In 2009, the BIA gave
the LNG company 30 days to vacate its leased tribal land, the lease having been can-
celled due to lack of payments; and in 2010, federal approval of the lease was cancelled.
After nearly five years of litigation with multiple hearings and appeals, David and his
colleagues declared a victory. All of the LNG proposals eventually failed due to oppo-
sition and the company’s failure to meet permitting requirements. David with his mother Hilda Soctomah Lewis
at an LNG rally on the reservation at Sipayik.
During this period, David also participated in the United Nations Permanent Photo taken by Robert Godfrey, courtesy of
Forum on Indigenous Issues. Hilda Lewis.

He once reflected, “To be indigenous in
1962 was to be doomed... Termination was the
word, but not for you, only for the savages who
refused to advance into the world of plastic and
television. When they told me at school there
were no Indians left I wondered who that was in
my living room speaking Passamaquoddy.”

A view of the gallery
Indeed his lifetime of art and advocacy re-
flects a passion for a living culture that will not
be doomed as long as others carry on the legacy.
He will be remembered, his mother says, “as a
key member of the movement against LNG,
somebody who loved his heritage.” A scholar-
ship in his memory was established by the Maine
Community Foundation for artists, apprentices,
researchers, and others working to preserve tra-
David doing a presentation at the Abbe Museum.
ditional skills and protect nature, and the first
Photo by the Abbe Museum, courtesy of Hilda Lewis.
grants are scheduled for spring 2019.

For more information about David’s life and
work as well as books and documentaries, visit
davidmosesbridges.com.

David (far right) at a Passamaquoddy Arts demonstra-
tion and show in Eastport, with Gabriel Frey (left) and
Jeremy Frey, September 2016. All three have been
award winners at the Santa Fe Native American Market,
in Santa Fe, NM. Photo by Meg Keay.

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