PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 1, 2022
I am writing in support of L.D. 1626 – an act that will restore sovereignty to the Wabanaki tribes. I was appalled when I learned the history of how the state of Maine has been treating the tribes. I was shocked to learn that the four Maine tribes don’t have the same level of self-governance that the other 570 federally recognized tribes have because the Settlement Acts of 1980 have excluded them from federal legislation benefitting tribes. Acknowledging the four Maine tribes as the sovereign nations they have always been, trusting them as responsible stewards of this land and restoring their self-governance is only a small step toward reconciliation, a first step toward making reparations. It is the least we can do. ~ Meret Bainbridge, Saco