By Will Tuell

Not even a dreary, drizzly, mid-May morning could dampen the spirits of the 70 University of Maine Machias students receiving diplomas on Saturday. Friends, family, professors, and community members packed into the Reynolds Center gym for the 10 a.m. right of passage. Yet remarks by Class of 2025 Valedictorian Emma Soctomah and Passamaquoddy Tribal historian Dwayne Tomah, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, gave the proceedings a distinctly Passamaquoddy feel.