We are holding close in our hearts all of those who knew and loved Elizabeth Sockbeson, a highly respected matriarch, Penobscot Nation Elder and community leader who passed away on Aug. 3 on Indian Island where she was born. The grandmother of Wabanaki Alliance’s Executive Director Maulian Bryant and known as Beth, Honey, Mumma, Grammy, and Ghee, Elizabeth passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children and grandchildren who held her and sang her back to the ancestors.
Elizabeth served with great wisdom as a Tribal Leader for the Penobscot Nation. She was one of the most frequently elected Tribal Council representatives in the tribe’s history, serving through five administrations and seven chiefs.
Elizabeth committed more than three decades of her life to housing justice in the Penobscot community. “She gave her heart to her Tribe, working to ensure that our people were warm and their homes kept in good repair,” says her sister, Donna Loring, a tribal elder and Vice President of the Wabanaki Alliance. Elizabeth served as the tribe’s Home Improvement Coordinator and sat on the Housing Commission and the Health Committee where she tirelessly worked to improve the quality of homes on the island.
(l-r) Rebecca Sockbeson, Donna Loring, Elizabeth Sockbeson, Maulian Bryant
Elizabeth was a constant in the life of Wabanaki Alliance’s Executive Director Maulian Bryant since she was born and lived with Maulian’s family in her childhood. “She cared so much for our tribe and all native people,” Maulian said. “She had this fierce way of being loyal and protective of her family and that extended to her tribe as well. She was extremely clever and witty right up until the end. She had so much dignity, class, and regalness about her. One of her old friends visited her in her final days and came out of the room and said, ‘She is still so beautiful. It shines through.’ That sums up so much of how I feel about her.”
“My sister was a strong, enduring, and courageous spirit,” says Donna Loring, tribal elder and Vice President of the Wabanaki Alliance. “She raised seven children on her own, weathering heart-wrenching times with unshakable resolve. Through every challenge, she fiercely protected her children, making certain they were loved, fed, sheltered, and cared for. Her passion for justice for the Wabanaki people was steadfast. I know her spirit is still with us, watching over us all with the same fierce devotion that guided her life.”
Elizabeth leaves a powerful legacy—8 children, 7 of whom are living; 23 grandchildren; and 34 great-grandchildren — each carrying forward her spirit, her values, and her love.
