Proposed changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act could result in Indian casinos in the Pine Tree State, according to a report given by Albany Township County Administrator Tom Winsor last week to his board of commissioners.
Winsor told the commission, “It would allow the tribes to declare any land that they purchase tribal land. They would be subject to federal rules, not state rules . . . that essentially allows a gambling casino to be built anywhere that there is private land, and it would be done under federal law.”
Several months ago, a legislative task force recommended more than 20 proposed changes to the 40-year-old agreement that many say prevents Maine’s four federally-recognized tribes from achieving the same sovereign autonomy they enjoy in most states.
The tribes are the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamquoddy Tribe of Maine and Penobscot Indian Nation, Old Town. They have tried several times in the past to develop tribal gaming, only to have the bills die in the legislature. In 2019, for example, Oxford County opposed a bill that would have allowed tribes to build a casino 50 miles or more from the existing commercial casinos in Oxford and Bangor.
If the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act is amended to give tribes the same standing as other federally-recognized tribes, they wouldn’t need the state’s permission to operate Class II gaming, and would only need a tribal state gaming compact to operate Class III gaming.
