Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is currently closed for the season as the final phase of construction is completed and the building is transferred to the National Park Service for future operations. Thank you to all who visited during our preview events this Fall!
The National Park Service will be sharing visitor information for 2025 at a later date; Tekαkαpimək is located within a parcel of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument that typically opens to visitor traffic in May.
About
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is a stunning 7,900 square-foot building and 23-acre site atop Lookout Mountain created to welcome the global public to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument is located within the present and traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation. The land and waters hold special significance to the Penobscot Nation and is inextricably linked with Penobscot culture, ceremonies, oral traditions, language, history, and Indigenous stewardship which continues the respectful relationship with the land and waterways that has gone back more than 11,000 years. Katahdin is a culturally significant place to the Wabanaki people where connecting watersheds provide important travel routes for Wabanaki people of Maine, comprised of Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations.
Tekαkαpimək is a Penobscot language word for “as far as one can see”, pronounced deh gah-gah bee mook. Architectural, landscape and exhibition designs for Tekαkαpimək resulted from a process between Elliotsville Foundation, representatives of the Wabanaki Nations, Saunders Architecture, Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture, WeShouldDoItAll, Tuhura Communications, Erin Hutton Projects, and the National Park Service. The design process began in 2019 and construction will be completed in 2024, with regular public hours to be announced after National Park Service assumes ownership and operations for the 2025 visitation season.
Tekαkαpimək’s waysides and exhibits orient visitors to the monument, inspiring them to experience Katahdin Woods and Waters from its peaks, trails, and rivers to its ever-changing foliage, brilliant night sky, and abundant wildlife. Interpretation is through a Wabanaki lens in a contemporary context, honoring the past and showing vibrant communities moving sustainably into the future. All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations – the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation.
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument spans 87,563 acres in north-central Maine. Tekαkαpimək lies at its southeastern corner. The contact station building features vistas across the expanse of the monument to Katahdin and up the East Branch of the Penobscot River while hidden from paddlers below. An eastern lookout and gathering circle allow visitors to greet the day’s first light, reflecting traditions of the “People of the Dawn” and providing views to all Wabanaki homelands. Handicapped parking and pedestrian routes throughout the site are designed to make areas accessible.
State-of-the-art green technology in the building demonstrates a significantly reduced carbon footprint relative to other buildings of its scale. Tekαkαpimək utilizes local materials in every possible instance, is fully off-grid, solar and thermal powered, and maximizes passive design strategies for heating and cooling. Innovative use of nominal lumber casts a light on the emerging sustainable bio-economy.
Funded through a capital campaign by Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, Tekαkαpimək will be donated to the American people and operated by the National Park Service. Lead philanthropic support comes from Elliotsville Foundation, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, Burt’s Bees, National Park Foundation, L.L. Bean, NorthLight Foundation, and an Anonymous supporter, among many other generous contributors.
MEdia inquiries
Please contact Brian Hinrichs, brian@friendsofkww.org, for all media inquiries.
Media Resources:
The People and Process of Tekαkαpimək [PDF, 36 pgs]
Note on usage: Any publication using these materials must include the following statement: All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations.
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station
VISIT
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is currently closed for the season as the final phase of construction is completed and the building is transferred to the National Park Service for future operations. Thank you to all who visited during our preview events this Fall!
The National Park Service will be sharing visitor information for 2025 at a later date; Tekαkαpimək is located within a parcel of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument that typically opens to visitor traffic in May.
About
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is a stunning 7,900 square-foot building and 23-acre site atop Lookout Mountain created to welcome the global public to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument is located within the present and traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation. The land and waters hold special significance to the Penobscot Nation and is inextricably linked with Penobscot culture, ceremonies, oral traditions, language, history, and Indigenous stewardship which continues the respectful relationship with the land and waterways that has gone back more than 11,000 years. Katahdin is a culturally significant place to the Wabanaki people where connecting watersheds provide important travel routes for Wabanaki people of Maine, comprised of Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations.
Tekαkαpimək is a Penobscot language word for “as far as one can see”, pronounced deh gah-gah bee mook. Architectural, landscape and exhibition designs for Tekαkαpimək resulted from a process between Elliotsville Foundation, representatives of the Wabanaki Nations, Saunders Architecture, Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architecture, WeShouldDoItAll, Tuhura Communications, Erin Hutton Projects, and the National Park Service. The design process began in 2019 and construction will be completed in 2024, with regular public hours to be announced after National Park Service assumes ownership and operations for the 2025 visitation season.
Tekαkαpimək’s waysides and exhibits orient visitors to the monument, inspiring them to experience Katahdin Woods and Waters from its peaks, trails, and rivers to its ever-changing foliage, brilliant night sky, and abundant wildlife. Interpretation is through a Wabanaki lens in a contemporary context, honoring the past and showing vibrant communities moving sustainably into the future. All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations – the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation.
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument spans 87,563 acres in north-central Maine. Tekαkαpimək lies at its southeastern corner. The contact station building features vistas across the expanse of the monument to Katahdin and up the East Branch of the Penobscot River while hidden from paddlers below. An eastern lookout and gathering circle allow visitors to greet the day’s first light, reflecting traditions of the “People of the Dawn” and providing views to all Wabanaki homelands. Handicapped parking and pedestrian routes throughout the site are designed to make areas accessible.
State-of-the-art green technology in the building demonstrates a significantly reduced carbon footprint relative to other buildings of its scale. Tekαkαpimək utilizes local materials in every possible instance, is fully off-grid, solar and thermal powered, and maximizes passive design strategies for heating and cooling. Innovative use of nominal lumber casts a light on the emerging sustainable bio-economy.
Funded through a capital campaign by Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, Tekαkαpimək will be donated to the American people and operated by the National Park Service. Lead philanthropic support comes from Elliotsville Foundation, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, Burt’s Bees, National Park Foundation, L.L. Bean, NorthLight Foundation, and an Anonymous supporter, among many other generous contributors.
MEdia inquiries
Please contact Brian Hinrichs, brian@friendsofkww.org, for all media inquiries.
Media Resources:
Note on usage: Any publication using these materials must include the following statement:
All Wabanaki Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property shared within this project is owned by the Wabanaki Nations.