| Summary: | Members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe who were victims of a mid-1800s smallpox epidemic lie in unmarked graves on the Island of the Bear Clan, which the Passamaquoddy call Muwinwi Monihq. The victims were exiled by the tribe when they fell sick. Georgia-Pacific Corp., one of the owners of the island in Big Lake, refused repeated tribal offers to buy the sacred site. New owner, Montreal-based Domtar Industries, offered the island to the tribe as a gift. At the handing-over ceremony, as tribal leaders shared a sacred pipe with executives, an eagle appeared from the direction of Bear Island. Passamaquoddy elder Delia Mitchell, 86, discusses that final smallpox outbreak, which almost destroyed the tribe.
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