MEDDYBEMPS — The state of Maine plans to transfer ownership of a culturally significant parcel of land back to the Passamaquoddy tribe.

The land is a 3.2-acre waterfront parcel in the Washington County town of Meddybemps. Members of the tribe refer to the land as N’tolonapemk, which means “our relatives’ place.”

Rena Newell of Sipayik, the state representative for the Passamaquoddy tribe, led a ceremony commemorating the return of the land to the tribe earlier this month. Newell said the transfer of the land is a significant moment for the tribe.

The land is located on Passamaquoddy ancestral lands and was used for travel by canoe for millennia.

Democratic House Speaker Ryan Fecteau called the transfer of land the “beginning of the work to realize tribal sovereignty and right wrongs.”