"Newell, a Passamaquoddy musician and the Native American Cultural Director at the University of Connecticut, described the project as a tribute and a call to action: a way of paying credence to waterways at a time when, as he put it, “our water is in crisis.”" home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/11...

Sometimes education looks like this. ;) www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrm6yaNU/

This was the scene at Dartmouth during We Are Water! Love this photo. The redesigned Hop is lit up to match the theme and they set up a big screen on the Green to show the simulcast of the concert. Such a lively atmosphere!

All this work with Yo Yo Ma and I never stopped and got a picture with him. Until now. This was after his We The People concert in Boston. All 6 Bach cello suites. Two and a half hours of music all from memory. He's truly a treasure of our lifetime.

"“We are all water,” Ma said in a Vermont Public interview. “It could be a very dangerous place, or it could be the place that gives us, literally, life. It’s both." home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/11...

The finale of the Dartmouth show. #WeAreWater #YoYoMa www.facebook.com/share/v/17Tu...

Wait a minute. River of Fundament was shown with Jonathan Bepler and live music in Poland?!?!! I was in RoF and I'm interested in this...

My dad was such a proponent of our language that when the governor of Maine threatened jail time to Wabanaki chiefs for not turning over documents pertaining to our studies of water quality on our lands, dad said, "Translate them to Passamaquoddy and let them have them." Lol

My upcoming book has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!! Release date Feb 3, 2026 #goldstandardselection #JLGgoldstandard #juniorlibraryguild #thebestbooks shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecomm...

Some goodness for your day! #WeAreWater #CTRiver www.instagram.com/reel/DQHWmjY...

Great news in the inbox. If You Lived During the American Revolution has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection!

Been pow wowing so long I remember the days when camped everywhere we went. As singers we had to bring our own PA. These young guys are spoiled by all these badass Native run sound businesses now. ;)

This came across my feed lately. The underground nature of this film's availability is giving it a long life. Brings back memories. Thirteen years since we recorded this (the opening song). #MysticRiverSingers #RiverofFundament vimeo.com/127499925

Now that is truly hilarious! 😂

No lie.

My students discovering my old TEDx Talk from 2013 is a hoot. 😆

Making it to the finals of invite only fellowships and coming up short seems to be my specialty. One day I'll break through. *crossing fingers*

The HUD website right now. Yes it's against the law.

When the meeting is over, but we're stuck in it because a few people want to heavily discuss a tangent that doesn't involve the rest of us.

If it wasn't for DOGE and this crazy administration, we'd be working on the interpretation for the Carlisle Industrial School National Monument and telling some hard truths that we could all learn from. Instead, we're still acknowledging medals to soldiers who massacred the people they disarmed.

So in this crazy political climate, I have a nonfiction kids book coming out about the American Revolution. My specialty...diverse perspectives. Pray for me... www.amazon.com/You-Lived-Du....

I get a lot of labels, but the one i use for myself is "educator" However, if I tell someone I'm an educator their eyes roll back. Yet if I say author, artist, singer etc they get all excited. I guess I'm just wired different. For me, the exciting thing is the education part...

When I said ok to this panel, I had no idea who the other panelists were....😲

In surveys, my students consistently express that they stress less and learn more than they expected. Try it my fellow educators. I know we have standards to uphold, but these are human beings. Treat them with care and they'll be excited about what you have to teach. The rest takes care of itself.

This is exactly why I work with Yo-Yo Ma. He is as real as it gets. Love this.

Scary scenes from classic horror movies. I'll go first. The psychic reading scene from The Changeling with George C. Scott.

Writing nonfiction for kids means dotting your i's and crossing your t's repeatedly. Gotta get the details right. My editor emailed that If You Lived During the American Revolution is at the printer. A few last second details wrapped up and real books get made soon. Cue the anxiety...

Just thinking. Heart block almost took my life in 2019. Seeing your chart with 10 seconds of flat line is sobering. Life changing. But the important part is, I lived. Everyone tells me it's because I have more to do. This latest work with Yo Yo Ma is truly starting to take on elements of that.

We sold out the Merrill! Between this and Wabanaki Stories we've sold out that venue 6 times. A full auditorium is electric. I can't wait for this. portlandovations.org/event/we-are...

When I was 16, I was a part time bowling mechanic on AMF machines. Actually really liked it. The sleuthing to figure out the problem and then getting the machine back up and running smooth was kind of a rush.

How the hell did I get invited to an executives only conference on expanding a customer base. I thought it was a sales pitch but they're hardcore trying to recruit me and willing to pay everything. Still don't know how they settled on me as an invitee. Turned them down.

Still a few tickets left! (Very few). Between this and Wabanaki Stories we've sold out that 2000 seat theater 6 times.

Oh dang...I said this out loud and someone quoted me... "Writing a book almost feels in a way like you are opening a vein and exposing a part of yourself, not just to a class of 30 kids, but now to the world."

We filmed our part for River of Fundament in 2012. After we were done they kept our outfits to be put in a collection. Every once in a while, I think about that crusty ensemble.....

My old high school friends being fragile because I support public broadcasting and the Emergency Alert System? Say it ain't so. They all got upset that I knew what I was talking about. Smh. Your peeps are in charge. If you can't handle legitimate criticism of their work you need to be tougher.

A little over a decade ago I was working in the casinos while commuting for my degree. A decade ago I became the Education Supervisor at the Pequot Museum. I wasn't paid much. Life was a struggle. If you asked me back then I wouldn't have even dreamed of what I'm doing today. What a ride.

Andrea Gibson went to my high school while I was there. I cheered them on from the stand. Andrea even won a state championship. RIP Gib www.out.com/news/andrea-...

A friend of mine sent me this map. Not sure the accuracy but I love it because they got Eastern Maine right. :)

Looking for my annual turndown email about the Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship and can't find it. Checked the portal and my app says "in review". So I'm not even sure they saw it this year. No turndown letter. 🤷

Tbh....I love my one star reviews. I wanna frame them. I write non fiction so my work is filtered through layers of fact checkers. The arguments against those facts are ridiculously entertaining. ;)

When someone falsely raises money to make and edit Tik Tok videos and then turns around and decides to put the content on their patreon for a price....please be wary....

7 years ago. Getting ready to go sing none other than the champ Kali Reis into the ring.

“Decolonization” removes colonial harms + “Indigenization” adds Native ways of thinking and practice. So glad this room gets to hear from Chris Newell (Passamaquoddy)! #rbms25

Presentation and book signing today at Chapter One Stage of the American Library Association Annual Conference with my friend (and history teacher of the year) Wunnea Lamb Cason

Feeling official. #ALAAnnualConference

First time at ALA's Annual Conference and it is huge. What a madhouse. How awesome! Visiting my publisher's booth.

Watching karma rain down on people who've been asking for it is both sad and satisfying at the same time....

RBMS Conference Plenary duties with @hcmaruyama.bsky.social tomorrow! #UConn represent! Whoop whoop!

13 years ago. Hard to believe it's been that long. #RiverofFundament #MysticRiver

Good times singing in Sitansisk (St. Mary's Reserve, Fredericton NB Took third in the host drum's special. Wolastoq (the beautiful and bountiful river) in the background. #IronRiverSingers