Native Americans have lived in this area for thousands of years. Today Maine's four Indian tribes—Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot—are known collectively as the Wabanaki ("Dawnland People" or "People of the Dawn"). Acadia National Park lies in the center of the Wabanaki homeland, which stretches from Newfoundland, Canada, to the Merrimac River valley in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The first-ever ethnographic study of the Wabanaki in the Mount Desert Island region was completed in 2007. You can access the study from the links below, but be aware that the files are very large and should only be downloaded with a high-speed connection.

Asticou's Island Domain: Wabanaki Peoples at Mount Desert Island 1500–2000

• Volume 1 (pdf - 30mb)
• Volume 2 (pdf - 28mb)