Billy Longfellow

TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Passamaquoddy

PANEL: Water is Life

BIOGRAPHY:

William Malsom Longfellow is a Passamaquoddy Tribal Member of Pleasant Point (Sipayik), Maine, deeply connected to his home community through family, culture, and place. He has always held a strong interest in the waters and natural resources of his homeland and the ways they sustain the Passamaquoddy people. This lifelong relationship with land and water forms the foundation of his values and professional path.

Before entering his professional capacities, William gained meaningful hands-on experience working directly with the land and waters of his community. He worked in the blueberry fields as a blueberry raker, along the shoreline as a wrinkle harvester, and in the rivers as an elver fisherman. These experiences provided him with a deep, practical understanding of subsistence practices, local ecosystems, and the cultural and economic importance of natural resources to tribal life.

William currently serves as a Water Quality Program Specialist within the Sipayik Environmental Department for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point. His work focuses on protecting, monitoring, and sustainably managing tribal water resources to support environmental health, public health, and long-term community well-being. He works with a wide range of waterbody types, including wetlands, groundwater, lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, and municipal drinking water systems, and assists with public drinking water studies essential to

community safety. He maintains a strong interest in fisheries, tribal history, and lifelong learning, and is deeply committed to learning more about Passamaquoddy history and helping to preserve tribal knowledge, stories, and cultural connections to water and land. William believes that understanding and honoring tribal history is essential to effective environmental stewardship and to protecting resources for future generations.

William is a strong advocate for tribal sovereignty and tribal rights, supporting tribal self-determination and the protection of tribal authority in environmental and natural resource management. His advocacy emphasizes Indigenous leadership, culturally grounded stewardship, and responsible decision-making led by tribal communities themselves. He has also appeared in a three-part NOVA documentary series focused on climate change in the Gulf of Maine, which highlights Indigenous perspectives, fisheries, and community-based responses to environmental change.

William holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and has received many formal trainings and certifications throughout his career. His long-term goal is to become a respected leader in environmental and resource management, helping to foster healthier ecosystems, healthier lifestyles, and a strong, sustainable economy for the communities he serves. Outside of work, William enjoys hiking, spending time outdoors, learning, meeting new people, and being with friends and family. Although not an artist himself, he has held a lifelong interest in art, music, film, and theater arts, and maintains a deep respect and open-minded appreciation for creative expression. He is also a lifelong fan of Star Wars and geek culture and operates a small online reselling business related to those interests, reflecting his curiosity, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Jennifer Neptune

TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Penobscot

PANEL: Water is Life

BIOGRAPHY
Jennifer Neptune (Penobscot Nation) is the Director of the Penobscot Nation Museum on Indian Island, Maine, dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich cultural heritage of the Penobscot Indian Nation and the Wabanaki people. She is also a master basketmaker, beadworker, and Maine guide, who recently served as the exhibit writer for the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station at the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The recipient of many national awards and grants for her basketmaking, she has worked to preserve and adapt traditions of ash and sweetgrass basketry and to mentor other artists. She holds a degree in anthropology from the University of Maine.

Sam St.John

TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Maliseet

PANEL: Water is Life

BIOGRAPHY
As a Maliseet tribal member, Sam has had a lifelong relationship with the environment on both a personal and professional level. Since 2016, he has worked as a Natural Resources Technician, mainly in the Meduxnekeag River, an international branch of the greater Wolastoq (St. John River) watershed. Projects include:

• Meduxnekeag River water quality monitoring and river restoration

• Atlantic salmon conservation efforts in Maine and New Brunswick, Canada in conjunction with First Nation and Canadian government entities

• Climate change adaptation methods and action plan writing

• Implementing methods of controlling invasive plants and animals

• Wabanaki Youth in Science

• Contributor to salmonid research in Mongolia through Rutgers University