AUBURN — The Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society is set to host Dr. Joseph Hall, associate professor of history at Bates College, as guest speaker at its fall general membership meeting.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, in the Androscoggin Community Room of the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St.

Hall’s presentation will begin at approximately 11 a.m. after a brief business meeting and light refreshments. Admission is free and open to the public.

Hall focuses his research on the history of Wabanaki in Maine, particularly the ways that it has maintained relationships with its colonized homelands. He notes that Wabanakis is the collective term for the Penobscots, Passamaquodies, Mi’kmaqs and Maliseets not only of Maine, but also New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and eastern Quebec, according to a news release from Connie Hitchcock with the society.

Hall’s presentation is titled “Does Descent Mean Belonging? Incomplete Thoughts on the Relationship between Genealogical Heritage and Contemporary Wabanaki Communities.”

Many people in Maine have ancestors who were Wabanaki. Some have used these genealogical connections to claim that they belong to Wabanaki communities.

While there are connections between French Canadian and Wabanaki family histories, these connections can have many potential meanings, and many of these meanings are deeply contested.

There will be time for a question-and-answer session at the end of Hall’s presentation.

For more information about the society, visit mfgen.org. For more information about the meeting, email Hitchcock at [email protected].

For information about parking at the library, visit auburnpubliclibrary.org.

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