Henry John Bear is a Native American politician from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. In January 2013, he was sworn in as the first elected member of the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

representing the

Maliseet The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...

people. He replaced David Slagger, who was appointed to the Maine House. Bear grew up in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

living in poverty. At 17, he joined the

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, where he met his wife, Violet Dotson. The two have four grown children and eight grandchildren. He and his family live in

Houlton, Maine Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the Canada–United States border. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 6,055. It is perhaps best known for being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and as the birthplace of Sam ...

, where they operate a Maliseet respite care facility. He was the Democratic candidate for the 144th district in the 2016 election. In November 2017, he became a member of the

Maine Green Independent Party The Maine Green Independent Party is a state-level political party affiliated with the Green Party of the United States. It is the oldest state green party in the United States. It was founded following an informal meeting of 17 environmental ...

. Bear ran unsuccessfully for

Maine's 2nd congressional district Maine's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. Covering , it comprises nearly 80% of the state's total land area. The district comprises most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metro ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. The

people opted not to send a delegate to the Maine House of Representatives for the 2019-2020 session. Following completion of his LLM Degree, conferred by the University of Maine School of Law in May 2020, Henry Bear was admitted to the Bar in Maine that fall, owing to delays in processing caused by the

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. He has been engaged by a consortium of First Nations groups to sue the Catholic Church for conditions members experienced in residential schools in Canada.

References

21st-century American politicians Living people Maine Democrats Maine Greens Maine Independents Maliseet people Members of the Maine House of Representatives Native American people from Maine Native American state legislators in Maine Green Party of the United States officeholders People from Houlton, Maine Politicians from Lewiston, Maine University of Maine at Presque Isle alumni University of New Brunswick alumni 1956 births {{Maine-politician-stub