MAINE PUBLIC • August 2, 2021
A month after the Penobscot Nation was dealt a legal setback in its efforts to retain sovereignty over 60 miles of the Penobscot River, hundreds of Wabanaki tribal members and their allies rallied on the Bangor waterfront Sunday afternoon. The court case pits the tribe against the state of Maine and upstream business interests over the rights to regulate water quality and fishing in the river. Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis says despite the 3-2 ruling in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the tribe has never ceded the rights to the river that is inextricably linked with the tribe, and he says the fight is not over. The tribe is “getting ready to file a petition with the United States Supreme Court," Francis said.