The Peterborough Town Library announced a special screening of the documentary, Dawnland, a film produced by the Upstander Project. The award-winning film takes place in Maine and follows a historic investigation of the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners traveled across Maine. They gathered testimony and bore witness to the dramatic impact of the state’s child welfare practices on families in Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Collectively, these tribes make up the Wabanaki people.

The feature-length documentary follows the TRC to contemporary Wabanaki communities to witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.

The film won a national Emmy® Award for Outstanding Research in 2019 and made the American Library Association’s list of 2020 Notable Videos for Adults. To watch the trailer and learn more about the film, visit: https://dawnland.org/.
The film will be screened on Thursday, January 20th at 2:00 pm at the Peterborough Town Library. The community may watch the film at the Library in-person or through a zoom link.

A follow-up discussion will be held on January 27th at 2:00pm, also both in-person or by zoom, and will include remarks from Emmy® award-winning researcher and a director of the Upstander Project, Dr. Mishy Lesser. Lesser, Ed.D. is co-director of the Upstander Academy, a weeklong professional learning experience for teachers and museum educators. She also authored the twelve-lesson Dawnland Teacher's Guide and is a Fulbright Scholar.

The public may register for the film screening and follow-up discussion by visiting the events page on the Peterborough Town Library website at www.peterboroughtownlibrary.org/events.

Peterborough Town Library is located at 2 Concord Street in Peterborough and is open

Monday-Saturday. For more information on this program or any of our services, please visit

PeterboroughTownLibrary.org or call (603) 924-8040.