When Peter Scontras was growing up in Saco, he was often warned to take heed of the curse of the Saco River.
The folklore of the curse – that three white people would drown in the river each year – was pervasive in the region and beyond, but Scontras would later learn it was based on inaccurate history and perpetuated racism toward Indigenous peoples.
The Biddeford Culture and Heritage Center hopes to correct that folklore by erecting a bronze statute of an Indigenous leader, or sachem, named Sq...