BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 25, 2020
A small tribe with roots in the Moosehead Lake region will restart a bid for state recognition after being turned down by the Maine Legislature more than 180 years ago when forebears driven off their land asked for a tract to start anew. After being driven from land on the Canadian side of the St. John River by the British, a group of Maliseets and Monson residents petitioned the Maine Legislature in 1839 for 500 acres near the lake. The Legislature rejected them then and turned down a new bid for state recognition in 2013. But Houlton Band of Maliseets member and former tribal representative David Slagger of Sangerville, is hoping Augusta will be more receptive next year to granting state recognition to the tribe, a designation that could lead to economic revitalization in that corner of Piscataquis County.