This story was originally published by Maine Morning Star.

Emma Davis
Maine Morning Star

The movement to return more sovereignty to the Wabanaki Nations continues as lawmakers and members of the public convene Thursday, Feb. 19, to reignite debate, even as the prospect of full restoration under the current administration remains slim.

But the idea is to continue building engagement and momentum around the issue — “that keeps that fire burning even if we don’t have big legislative wins right now,” as Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, put it to Maine Morning Star in the fall.

With Gov. Janet Mills termed out after this year, that goal also extends to getting commitments from gubernatorial candidates, many of whom have already vowed to back the type of sweeping reform Mills has rejected.

Two bills are slated for public hearings in Augusta. One is an omnibus proposal to restore full sovereignty, while the other would reinstate the Wabanaki Nations’ access to beneficial federal laws. Both are nearly identical to past proposals, which were blocked either by the governor or through the Legislature’s opaque funding process.

The Penobscot Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and Mi’kmaq Nation — collectively known as the Wabanaki Nations — are treated differently than other federally recognized tribes, more akin to municipalities than sovereign nations because of a 1980 land settlement agreement.

Wabanaki leaders have said that their Tribes signed the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act to get fair compensation for stolen lands, not to give up the level of sovereignty that has been interpreted by the state and courts to date. Remaining barriers to self-governance have left persistent disparities between tribal citizens and other Mainers, such as health inequalities and limited economic mobility.

Mills, a Democrat, has rejected sweeping attempts to overhaul the act, instead approaching changes on a case-by-case basis, such as expanding Wabanaki authority over prosecuting crimes, permitting the Tribes to handle and reap profits from sports betting, and aligning the tax code with the rules that apply to other tribal nations throughout the country.

Those changes are not naught.

“Almost eight years ago, we sat in front of a crowded audience at Gov. Janet Mills’ first State of the State address in the Augusta Civic Center. In her address, one of her promises to the state of Maine and the Wabanaki Nations was to improve the relationship between the tribes and the state,” wrote the Chiefs of the Passamaquoddy Tribes  Amkuwiposohehs “Pos” Bassett and William Nicholas Sr. in an op-ed published Wednesday. “We can tell you from our standpoint, she is leaving this relationship in a much, much better place than when she inherited it.”

Still, many Wabanaki leaders and allies to the cause are skeptical that the pending bills will ultimately be successful this year. But with Mills soon termed out (and running for U.S. Senate), the proposals could have more luck under the next administration, as several gubernatorial candidates have already made day one pledges to restore full sovereignty to the Wabanaki Nations.

With an eye toward the next executive, the Wabanaki Alliance, a coalition formed in 2020 to push for state recognition of tribal sovereignty, is hosting a series of gubernatorial candidate forums to discuss policy affecting the Wabanaki Nations ahead of the November election, with the first slated for March 19 in Houlton.

The Maine Legislature formally recognized a need to alter the Settlement Act in 2019 by tasking a bipartisan group of state legislators and tribal chiefs to recommend changes. Those 22 recommended changes have been taken up in several proposals with varying success and are again a focus of the legislation now being considered.

Repeat proposals

LD 785 is omnibus legislation that would implement the remaining task force recommendations, serving as the means to overhaul the rest of the act. LD 395 focuses on just one of the recommendations, restoring the Wabanaki Nations’ access to beneficial federal laws. Both are sponsored by Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Cumberland).

The omnibus legislation is essentially the proposal that the Legislature initially passed in 2022, but lawmakers on the budget committee did not fund the bill, essentially killing it, despite its relatively small fiscal note.

The proposal regarding federal laws mirrors a bill that the Legislature passed in 2023 but Mills vetoed, writing in her veto letter that she doesn’t “want to see the Wabanaki Nations unfairly excluded from benefits that are generally available to federally recognized tribes” but she fears the way the legislation sought to do so would “result in years, if not decades, of new, painful litigation that would exacerbate our government-to-government relationship and only further divide the state.”

The Settlement Act made it so the Tribes are unable to benefit from any federal law passed after 1980 that interferes with state law, unless they are specifically mentioned in the law. LD 395 would flip this paradigm by allowing the Wabanaki Nations to access federal laws unless they are expressly excluded.

Other legislation passed, pending and rejected

Among the many federal laws that do not apply to the Wabanaki Nations is one that offers federally recognized tribes the right to exclusively regulate and take in revenue from gambling on tribal lands.

In 2022, the Legislature amended the Settlement Act to permit Tribes to handle sports betting. Last year, they expanded that authority further, giving the Wabanaki Nations exclusive rights to operate internet gaming in the state. Mills delayed her decision on the bill until this year, ultimately deciding to allow it to become lawwithout her signature, though it won’t take effect until the summer.

Meanwhile, another gambling bill related to the Tribes is still in limbo. The Legislature carried over into this year a proposal that would afford the Tribes more revenue from gambling at private casinos.

There are also two other bills backed by the Wabanaki Alliance from last year that lawmakers have yet to issue final decisions on, though those proposals currently sit on what’s known as the “appropriations table” awaiting funding. Few proposals that make it onto this table ultimately make it off.

One bill would ensure the already required teaching of Wabanaki studies is effectively implemented in Maine schools. Lawmakers attempted to do the same during the prior Legislature — after a 2022 report found school districts have failed to consistently and appropriately include the curricula — though were unsuccessful.

“I have experienced first hand what little has been taught to Maine’s youth about Wabanaki people,” Mi’kmaq Nation citizen Mak Thompson said during a press conference in Augusta earlier this month, advocating for the bill. “This weighs on Wabanaki students to teach their peers about the existence of our people that have occupied this land for centuries.”

The other bill on the table would provide Indigenous people free access to state parks.

Another proposal the Wabanaki Nations advocated for has already seen a definitive decision against them. Mills vetoed legislation last year that sought to prevent the state from being able to seize tribal land for public use.

The post Maine Lawmakers again consider returning more sovereignty to Wabanaki Nations appeared first on ICT.

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