Maine’s tribes are pushing the legislature to pass a bill that would bring them to parity with other tribe in U.S. states. That would include the right to exercise full sovereignty, such as operating tribal casinos.
The tribe lost most of those rights in a 1980 land settlement with the state. The settlement resulted from a lawsuit based on violations of land treaties going back 200 years. The tribes were paid $81.5 million in return for dropping their claims. They used the money to buy land from the state but the settlement restricted tribal self-government.
Maine’s tribes include the Wabanaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac. Under the settlement, tribes are treated more like municipalities than sovereign tribal entities. The state specially opposes the idea of “a nation within a nation,” which is, in fact, how many tribes view their relationships with states and the federal government.
A bill, L.D. 1626, being considered by the Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, has heard hundreds of hours of testimony, much of it in support.
The bill would, says one supporter, “expand tribal jurisdiction over tribal lands, waters, resources and people.”
It would give tribes the same jurisdictional powers and access to federal programs that other tribes have. Governor Janet Mills opposes the bill, claiming it would subject state lands to federal laws.
The governor prefers a bill she negotiated with tribes, L.D. 585, that would give them the right to offer sports betting. Some tribes support this but consider it a poor substitute for a more encompassing bill.
Another bill, L.D. 1665, would expand the areas of the state eligible for tribes to acquire under the land settlement of 1980.
Another bill, L.D. 1907, would create a commission to develop a process for returning or increasing access by tribes to state land their consider sacred or significant.
