The Dunlap Broadside will be displayed beside the Watertown Treaty of 1776 at the Abbe Museum, creating a rare opportunity to see two foundational documents through a Wabanaki lens.
Aug 19, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Paradis Ace Hardware.
BAR HARBOR—This weekend the Abbe Museum will highlight history in a slightly different way as one of the few surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence heads to the museum as part of the Dunlap Broadside’s statewide tour.
The document, created by John Dunlap, is the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence.
Most of the 200 copies were lost to time, rolled up, pasted outside buildings and exposed to the elements. There are just 26 that are known to still exist.
The two-day visit to the Abbe places the document printed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, close by the The Watertown Treaty of 1776. That treaty’s reproduction, the first international treaty signed by the new government of the United States of America is already at the Abbe Museum.
“Just 14 days after the Declaration was signed, the U.S. signed its first nation-to-nation treaty with the Wabanaki Confederacy. Visitors can see both documents at the Abbe Museum this weekend,” said Betsy Richards (Cherokee Nation), executive director of the Abbe on Monday.
Both documents together join to help create a vision of the country’s past and future.
“We’re delighted to host the Maine Historical Society’s tour and bring Wabanaki perspectives to its interpretation,” Richards said.
The tour, organized by the Maine Historical Society, deliberately chose the Abbe Museum, to spotlight not just the document that told colonists that America was officially independent from Great Britain, but to also show the context of such hugely impactful historical documents with Indigenous perspectives.
“The Declaration of Independence is one of our nation’s most celebrated documents, but it has never meant the same thing to everyone. From an Indigenous perspective, it represents a profound contradiction: proclaiming the ideals of liberty and equality while inciting anti-Native racism, even at a time when the Wabanaki were allied with Revolutionary forces. We hope this visit allows for a fuller public conversation that moves us all towards more understanding and a more perfect union,” Richards said in a previous press release.
Admission to the exhibition is free.
“Smithsonian Folklife Center and Maine Community Foundation are underwriting free admission to this important stop on the tour,” Richards explained.
On Saturday, August 22 at 4 p.m., the Abbe will host a panel: “A Nation Examined: Wabanaki Voices on the Declaration of Independence.” Penobscot leader Donna Loring, Dr. Darren Ranco, University of Maine Professor (Penobscot) and Richards will participate.
According to a 2024 piece by Osihkiyol Crofton-Macdonald, the tribal ambassador for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and a co-commissioner on the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission, in both the Bangor Daily News and the Wabanaki Alliance wrote, “On July 19, 1776, representatives from the Wolastoqey and Mi’kmaq Nations met with the governors of the state of Massachusetts Bay and signed a Treaty of Alliance and Friendship. In this treaty, the U.S. outlined the terms of enlistment for a new regiment to be composed of Wabanaki and American soldiers to join the Continental Army. The Wolastoqey and Mi’kmaq delegates agreed to rally as many warriors as possible from their nations to join this regiment. In return, Massachusetts promised to resupply the truck house located at Machias and trade goods for furs with Wabanaki citizens.”
A year after the treaty was signed Wolastoqey and Passamaquoddy joined the Continental Army in the Battle of Machias of 1777.
However, Crofton-Macdonald writes, “Despite the Watertown Treaty of 1776, and other international treaties the U.S. signed with other Indigenous allies during the American Revolution, not a single Indigenous nation was invited to negotiations leading up to the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1784, the treaty which formally ended the American Revolution and attempted to draw new borders between the U.S. and the remaining British colonies.”
LINKS AND INFORMATION TO LEARN MORE (VIA THE ABBE)
Community Events and Local Engagement
The Declaration will be on view at the Abbe Museum on August 21 and 22.
Families are welcome and the Abbe will have a simple scavenger hunt and some creative activities for young people.
Local programming organized by the Abbe Museum includes a panel discussion on Saturday, August 22 at 4:00 pm. “A Nation Examined: Wabanaki Voices on the Declaration of Independence” features Penobscot leader Donna Loring—author, broadcaster, and former Senior Advisor on Tribal Affairs to Maine Governor Janet Mills—and Dr. Darren Ranco, University of Maine Professor (Penobscot). Moderated by Abbe Museum Director Betsy Richards (Cherokee Nation), this will be a powerful and timely dialogue on the Declaration’s promises, contradictions, and lasting impact on Wabanaki Nations. This panel program is produced in collaboration with the Maine Historical Society.
This stop is part of a broader effort to encourage communities across Maine to participate in conversations around the 250th anniversary that help us reflect on it in meaningful and locally relevant ways.
Plan Your Visit: Make a “timed entry” reservation today!
Location: Abbe Museum, 26 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor, ME Dates: August 21 and 22 Hours: August 21, 10 am to 4 p.m. & August 22, 10 a.m. to 3 pm Panel Discussion: Saturday, August 22, 4 p.m. at the Abbe. For more information, visit https://www.mainehistory.org/revolutionary-maine-doi-barharbor/.
About the Abbe Museum The Abbe Museum seeks to illuminate and advance greater understanding of and support for Wabanaki Nations’ heritage, living cultures, and homelands. 26 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609. 207-288-3519. abbemuseum.org.
About the Maine Historical Society Maine Historical Society preserves and shares Maine’s story. We envision a Maine in which all people feel connected, empowered, and inspired by history. 489 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101. 207-774-1822. mainehistory.org.
CLARIFICATION: At 12:48 p.m, August 19, 2026, we clarified two things in the fourth paragraph to make sure that people didn’t envision the two documents next to each other and make sure people knew the treaty was a reproduction.
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