Doctoral candidate quoted in BDN article on Native American canoe discovery

Anthony Sutton, a doctoral candidate in ecology and environmental sciences at the University of Maine, was quoted in a Bangor Daily News article about a Native American canoe dug out of the mud off Cape Porpoise. The canoe is estimated to be between 700 and 800 years old, and is the first pre-European contact dugout canoe ever found in Maine, according to the BDN. It’s proof of a successful, semi-permanent Native American settlement in Cape Porpoise, and a reminder that American history stretches far back before European contact. Archaeologists working in the area believe Native Americans spent summers in Cape Porpoise and migrated south to what is now Massachusetts at the end of the season. Sutton, who also is Passamaquoddy and studies Wabanaki food and communities, agrees that the sheltered harbor behind the Cape Porpoise islands was probably a thriving seasonal indigenous settlement, the article states. “There are not many places along the eastern seaboard sheltered like that. The islands had hardwood trees as well as fresh water,” said Sutton. WGME (Channel 13 in Portland) carried the BDN article.