PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE • February 16, 2022
More than 100 Mainers attended a Tuesday hearing on a bill to restore tribal sovereignty to Maine's four Wabanaki Nations. Advocates of LD 1626 say it would remove restrictions in place since the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980. The Settlement Act was intended to resolve disputes over land claims, but it left Wabanaki Nations with less legal and regulatory authority than that of other tribes across the nation. Chief Kirk Francis of the Penobscot Nation said that means they're essentially treated as municipalities, rather than sovereign nations.