Indian Township Enterprises
Storytelling
INDIAN TOWNSHIP ENTERPRISES
In the State of Maine, the Tribes are treated differently than all other Tribes across the country. They are governed by the State of Maine and do not have sovereignty rights that most other Tribes do. For Maine Tribes to administer and improve their programs like child welfare, police and fire, elder care, education, healthcare, natural resources, game warden service, and housing, they must develop businesses and their broader economies.
Indian Township Enterprises (ITE), the economic development arm of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township, employs a small but mighty business development team that has made some strong headway in a relatively short amount of time. They did this by developing resilient and regenerative, innovative, and sustainable business opportunities that offer clear social, cultural, and economic benefits, lifting up their Tribe.
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In the summer of 2021, NDN closed and funded a loan to ITE to buy equity shares in American Unagi, the only U.S.-based aquaculture company currently supplying eels to domestic seafood markets. The eel aquaculture loan puts Native values of regeneration and resilience into practice. This “Eel Deal” is contributing to dismantling the systemic barriers that persisted and now offers Passamaquoddy peoples the ability to partake in cultural practices while being offered equitable market prices for catches. Today, the baby glass elvers, which are translucent and extremely tiny, are caught along the river with either dip or fyke nets and are sold to State regulated dealers for about $1,800/lb (previously sold below a livable rate), who then sell to China, Vietnam, Japan, or the newest competitor; American Unagi. Throughout their history, the Tribe has been unable to acquire a loan or investor interested in investing in their community. This capital loan kicked open the economic development doors for the Tribe.
There are incredible benefits that this partnership has created. Eels have been a traditional food source of the Passamaquoddy for centuries with greater than 50% of community members harvesting each spring. This has historically provided ongoing income for individual Tribal members and profit for the Tribe as an entity, for instance. It also helps strengthen the Tribe’s sovereignty and self-determination to grow and expand the types of businesses it operates with practices aligned with their cultural values and ways of life.
The Tribe aims to take a place higher on the eel production value chain through a two-phase investment: First, an equity investment in American Unagi, which has already happened; and the second phase will create Wabanaki Unagi, the replication of American Unagi’s successful and sustainable eel incubator facility on Tribal lands, with the Tribe now as the majority owner.
Through the two-phase investment, the Tribe will eventually assume multiple points placing it higher on the value chain by being able to catch its elver quota, raise the elvers to mature eels, and sell those to end-market buyers. This change will represent an exponential increase in income for one of the Tribe’s traditional food resources, increase food security and sustainable harvesting, and promote social, cultural and economic impact for the Tribe.
The eel aquaculture loan puts Native values of regeneration and resilience into practice. This “Eel Deal” is contributing to dismantling the systemic barriers that persisted and now offers Passamaquoddy peoples the ability to partake in cultural practices while being offered equitable market prices for catches. Today, the baby glass elvers, which are translucent and extremely tiny, are caught along the river with either dip or fyke nets and are sold to State regulated dealers for about $1,800/lb (previously sold below a livable rate), who then sell to China, Vietnam, Japan, or the newest competitor; American Unagi.