Leadership
Tami
Connolly
Co-Director
Tami Connolly is a Penobscot Nation Citizen living in traditional Penobscot territory along the Penobscot river. She is a mother, grandmother, and an active community volunteer. She is a firm believer that plants are medicine given to us by the creator. Her background in plant life and soil health gives her prospective on why caring for the earth is so important to our food system. She has dedicated many years to growing food and loves sharing healthy food with others.
As an advocate of food sovereignty, she is passionate about creating more spaces for growing food and passing on knowledge to others seeking to learn how to grow food. Along with growing cultivated crops, she also enjoys harvesting wild foods, preserving foods, seed saving, and making compost.
Alivia
Moore
Co-Director & Board Co- Chair
Alivia // Kinalkwiwat "they open eyes wide" (she/they) is co- Director of Niweskok: From the Stars to Seeds. They are a Two-Spirit citizen of the Penobscot nation, parent, auntie, and mover & shaker in the community. They are committed to restoring a balanced relationship with the earth and deepening interdependence.
They support all aspects of work being done within Niweskok, with a special passion for reinvigorating: food forests, canoe routes, and sustenances from apetelmewiminal.
Living in & reconnecting to her traditional territory in so-called Northport, ME. She also strives to be a conduit for traditional knowledge mobilization. Alivia is dedicated to child welfare system abolition, fosters native children and dreams of living collectively on the land.
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Nicole
Francis
Co-Director & Board Secretary
Nicole Francis (she/her), Mi'kmaq, develops land-based, culturally relevant curriculum and events as a co-Director for Niweskok. She spends time on the land exploring and engaging with plants and their medicines. She organizes and develops indigenous food sovereignty summits, panels, webinars and is a founding member of an indigenous-led food cooperative.
Nicole also develops tailored on-the-land and in the classroom, hands on, plant knowledge and identification curriculum workshops. Her passion for health and wellness led her to become a herbalist, food justice organizer, community educator and a nutritional therapy Practitioner (NTP) with an animal based diet focus.
Nicole engages in her work as a pathway to nourish kinship connections and remain grounded in our first teachers, the plants and the animals. In 2021 she was the recipient of the NDN change maker Fellowship which precipitated her move from O'otham Jeved back to her home in Wabanakik.
Sikwani
Dana
Co-Director
Sikwani Dana (She/They), a Penobscot Nation Citizen and Co-Director of Niweskok, passionately creates educational strategies and materials. Their favorite so far is the four part video series learning how to count from 1 to 100 in the Penobscot Language. As Board President of Bomazeen Land Trust and Board Vice President of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, she champions Indigenous land stewardship and sustainable agriculture. Sikwani is a driving force in the nature Based Education Consortium, working to amplify diverse voices in outdoor education.
Beyond her professional pursuits, Sikwani is an avid outdoors enthusiast with a deep love for hiking, camping, and gardening. She is also a practitioner of medicine harvesting and her knowledge extends to plant, fungus and animal sign identification, reflecting her connection to the natural world. Sikwani also shares her off-grid lifestyle on TikTok and YouTube, providing glimpses into Nathan (spouse) and her journey in to alternative living.
Committed to Indigenous land stewardship, Sikwani advocates for Land Back and is deeply involved in promoting for sovereignty. Drawing on her background as a high school science teacher and her upbringing along the Kennbec River, Sikwani brings a unique perspective to her work, embodying a profound connection to the land and a commitment to positive change.
Jared
Norwood
Operations Assistant
Jared is a proud citizen of the Penobscot Nation, Jared lives with his family and their dog Bodhi in the Midcoast region of Maine- ancestral Wabanaki territory that continues to ground and inspire his daily life. In his role as Operations Assistant at Niweskok, he is honored to work alongside fellow community members to rematriate Indigenous resources, revitalize cultural practices, and uphold Wabanaki traditions for future generations. Jared's work centers on reciprocity and responsibility, guided by a deep respect for the land and for those who care for it.
He remains dedicated to supporting local Wabanaki land tenders and strengthening kinship and collective resilience across Tribal communities. Beyond his work, Jared finds joy in time spent with family, connecting to the ocean and forest, staying active and exploring new food experiences that bring people together.
Dr. Jus Crea
Giammarino
Board Co-Chair
Dr. Jus Crea Giammarino is a Penobscot mother of three who is passionate about rematriation and healing. As an Indigenous birthworker, breastfeeding counselor, ethnobotanist and practicing Naturopathic physician, she dedicates her life to helping others regain and sustain health naturally. Dr. Jus Crea firmly believes in the healing ways of her ancestors including land based healing methods such a plant and food medicines. She is a steadfast advocate for womb sovereignty and land sovereignty. As such, she has worked with Niweskok to train Wabanaki apprentices in herbal medicine, leading hands on identification, gathering, and medicine making classes in all four seasons throughout Wabanaki lands.
She also helps to create the Wabanaki Apothecary, a free medicinary, to help Wabanaki access out traditional medicines. Dr. Jus Crea also helped co-organize our first Northeast Indigenous Birth Work Gathering in Wabanakik. She helped organize our first intertribal ceremony to welcome newly born Indigenous babies and co-organizes ceremonies to reclaim our rites of passage for young women, men and to spirits. Dr. Jus Crea is Co-Chair of Niweskok's board and founding member of Bomazeen Land Trust.
Andrea
Francis
Board of Directors
Andrea is a citizen of the Mi'kmaq Nation (formerly Aroostook Band of Micmacs) and Elsipogtog First Nation in NB, Canada. Andrea is a graduate of University of Southern Maine's Master of Public Health program. Community is important to her and she was happy to be able to work with Wabanaki REACH early on as a student, an organizer and most recently as the Assistant Director. Andrea is also passionate about public health and how important health advocacy is to Wabanaki communities. She believes that language, culture and traditional footways are a vital part in the health of Indigenous people.
Andrea is involved in Maine's nonprofit sector and is also currently serving as a board member for Niweskok, Maine initiatives, and the Advisory Circle at Indigo Arts Alliance. She loves living in Portland, Maine and tries to find time to explore the outdoors and the regional native plants as much as possible. She is looking forward to expanding her community and creating positive change.
Heather Augustine
Board of Directors
Heather Augustine lives on a homestead in New Gloucester with her four children, two dogs, and a small flock of chickens. She is Mi'kmaq and belongs to the Elsipogtog First Nation. Heather is a Board Member of Niweskok, a community organizer with Wabanaki REACH, and creates spaces for Families to reconnect and recharge.
She enjoys getting dirty in the garden, exploring new places with her kids, visiting with friends and most of all, puttering around her yard.
Kessi Watters Kimball
Board Treasurer
Kessi Watters Kimball is a Mi'kmaq food and medicine producer who descends from the Listuguj First Nation. She is on the Niweskok Board of Directors as well as the Food Sovereignty Director for Bomazeen Land Trust. She started Mawiomi Garden in 2020 with her children, nephews and little cousins.
Now in the fifth year, and we have grown to support five Indigenous youth apprentices and expanded our poultry and butchering operation. We currently cultivate 5 acres in the unceded Abenaki homeland and the Sandy River in Starks, Maine. Kessi also serves on the Farmer Advisory Board for FRSAN-NE/Cultivemos and is a 2022 Braiding Seeds Fellow. They create innovative collaborations across organizations to practice radical food justice and inspire young folks to restore and rebuild traditional food systems.
Jasmine
Thompson-Tintor
Board of Directors
As is proud tribal member of the Penobscot Nation, Jasmine Thompson-Tintor is an educator, activist, and enthusiast within food sovereignty across the Wabanaki lands. She first started her work in food sovereignty with Eastern Woodlands Rematriation as well as Nibezun, working in various projects relating to food preservation and culture. Currently, they work alongside Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness as the Food Sovereignty Educator, supporting a variety of tribal organizations through seed and food projects. As a board member for Niweskok, they collectively create space for decision making and leadership goals. Jasmine's focus extends to support projects like Maine Food Convergence and Nature based Education Consortium. Jasmine works to create spaces where people can learn about food initiatives, climate action, water rights, nature conservation, education, and equality.
Their passion for farmed and foraged organic Whole Foods extends into their very own restaurant Katahdin Kitchen, that is bringing a box of traditional and contemporary Indigenous cuisine to the forefront of east central "Maine". Jasmine believes fostering connections between communities will always be the top priority, no matter the hurdles or red tape. jazz has made work a lifestyle, balancing family, community, culture, wellbeing, and direct action for a better future for all peoples, for the next seven generations.