Wabanaki Photography

Wabanaki Photography Wabanaki Photography & media company is Penobscot/Passamaqouddy owned. Capturing and highlighting indigenous culture and history one photo and video at a time.

Day 2 of the 45th annual K100.Paddle crew Mark Ranco, Dean Readding, Nick Nicholas.
09/05/2026

Day 2 of the 45th annual K100.
Paddle crew Mark Ranco, Dean Readding, Nick Nicholas.

The K100 starts tomorrow! Safe journey to everyone running paddling, biking or hiking. May the creator and out ancestors...
09/03/2026

The K100 starts tomorrow!
Safe journey to everyone running paddling, biking or hiking. May the creator and out ancestors guide you and protect you along the way. .

The K100 is roughly a 100-mile journey from the Penobscot Nation on Indian Island to Katahdin. It is not simply a marathon or race its a ceremony to honor our ancestors, land and waters. Participants can run, walk, hike, bike, and canoe, with Penobscot people and invited Wabanaki relatives taking part.

The journey traditionally happens around Labor Day weekend and ends at Katahdin with prayer and ceremony.

The event began in 1981, when Penobscot elder and former Chief Barry Dana felt called to make the journey by running the approximately 100 miles with his lifelong friends road crewing for him Mark Ranco and Albert Sockabasin. The journey grew into a larger communal & spiritual tradition.

For the Penobscot youth, adults and elders, The K100 represents the Penobscot people's continuing relationship with Katahdin, their ancestral homelands, the waterways, Creation and ancestors. rather than being primarily an athletic competition. It is a ceremony and honors our ancestors.

Photo circa 2025 K100 paddle group.

Was out looking for arrowheds on the Penobscot River when i found a arrowhead then shortly after i found a beautiful gif...
08/27/2026

Was out looking for arrowheds on the Penobscot River when i found a arrowhead then shortly after i found a beautiful gift from the creator!
Woliwon koselmol creator for the blessings!

A beautiful feather from late Marie Ranco collection i received as a gift from her brother Mark Ranco after dedicating t...
08/25/2026

A beautiful feather from late Marie Ranco collection i received as a gift from her brother Mark Ranco after dedicating the ancestors paddle to him and ann.m. I will be carrying this feather on our k100 paddle and 2026 warrior run from Sipayik to Motahkomikuk and Im extremely honored and thankful for and to know the ranco family. Woliwon koselmol nitap.

(Pemetic Pesamkuk Wapuwoc Wabanahik)A very good read belowđź“–đź“šđź‘“Long before Mount Desert Island was known by the name we us...
08/25/2026

(Pemetic Pesamkuk Wapuwoc Wabanahik)

A very good read belowđź“–đź“šđź‘“

Long before Mount Desert Island was known by the name we use today, it was part of a landscape known, traveled, and cared for by the Wabanaki peoples.

Among the traditional names associated with the island is Pemetic, a name describing the island’s remarkable range of mountains and the prominent peaks rising above the surrounding waters. Pesamkuk, has been associated with Mount Desert Island and the waters surrounding it, reflecting the deep connection between the Wabanaki people and the coastal landscape.

High above the island stands what is now called Cadillac Mountain, one of the most recognizable peaks along the coast. The traditional name Wapuwoc has been associated with the mountain and is described as meaning the “white mountain of the first light,” a name that evokes the mountain’s relationship with the rising sun and its place within the landscape.

Mount Desert Island is not simply a beautiful place on a map. It sits within the historic and contemporary homelands of the Wabanaki, the people of the Dawnland. The Wabanaki Confederacy includes the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, and Abenaki nation in Canada, whose histories stretch across what is now Maine and the Maritime provinces.

The Penobscot homeland has long centered around the Penobscot River and Penobscot Bay, while the Passamaquoddy and other Wabanaki peoples maintained extensive relationships with the coast, islands, rivers, and forests throughout the region. These places were traveled seasonally for fishing, hunting, gathering, trade, ceremony, and community.

The mountains and waters of Mount Desert Island therefore represent more than scenery. They are part of a much older Wabanaki landscape—a landscape with names, stories, routes, memories, and generations of connection that existed long before modern borders, towns, parks, and roads.

Today, institutions such as the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor help preserve and share aspects of Wabanaki history, language, and culture. Learning the traditional names of places like Mount Desert Island is one small way of recognizing that the landscape has a history that reaches far beyond the names placed upon it during colonization times.

When we look across the mountains of Pemetic (Mount Desert Island), we are not looking at an empty wilderness that was simply discovered. We are looking at a landscape that has been known by our Wabanaki peolple as sacred for generations. a place within the Wabanahikuk , carrying names and stories that remain part of the living history of our wabanaki people and im extremely thankful to be reconnected with a island our ancestors once lived and stopped on the way to Pemetic. Woliwon to all those involved making this day possible it elwas simply amazing. Nicky Nicholas

Blessed day to recieve a white eagle feather.Gifted from mark ranco.Woliwon Nitap.
08/24/2026

Blessed day to recieve a white eagle feather.
Gifted from mark ranco.
Woliwon Nitap.

Paddlers arriving and taking in the scenery of thier traditional homelands of Sipayik.
08/12/2026

Paddlers arriving and taking in the scenery of thier traditional homelands of Sipayik.

05/08/2026

We are looking for indigenous organizations and local Businesses to partner on 30 Days of Wabanaki: A Land & Light Photo Challenge by Wabanaki Photography & Media LLC to highlight the beauty of the lands and waters we protect.
Please email [email protected]

Start date to be announced.

• Who: Open to all, pros + phone shooters welcome

• How to enter: Post to Instagram/Facebook, tag Wabanaki Photography , use

• Land respect: If on Wabanaki land, add a land acknowledgment in caption. Private property = ask first

• Original work only: Photo must be taken during challenge dates

• Deadline: One photo per day, post by 11:59pm ET

• Prize: to be announced.

05/04/2026

Running is ceremony.

Views From The Cabin on MDI.
04/15/2026

Views From The Cabin on MDI.

Address

Wabanaki Way
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, ME
04468

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
Thursday 7am - 5pm
Friday 7am - 5pm
Saturday 1pm - 5pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm

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+12077355203

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