BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 21, 2021
Haaland’s Friday visit to the park, which included Gov. Janet Mills and Maine’s congressional delegation, featured discussion about the importance of investing in outdoor recreation. But Haaland’s multi-day trip to Maine also featured a more delicate, complicated issue: tribal sovereignty. On Thursday, Maine tribal leaders asked Haaland, the first Native American to lead the Department of Interior, to support their quest for sovereignty. The need to rebalance the state-tribal relationship is both urgent and complex.