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Cobscook Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is united in our support for the passage of LD 1626, “An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act.” The injustices that have been perpetrated on Wabanaki peoples in Maine for hundreds of years cannot be undone, but guaranteeing the tribes abilities to determine their communities’ futures is a critical step toward establishing right relationships with our Wabanaki neighbors.
The passage of LD 1626 will afford Wabanaki Tribes rights to certain benefits, services, and protections established under federal law. There are more than 570 federally recognized tribes in this country that currently access the 150 federal laws that have passed since 1980. In Maine, however, the Wabanaki Tribes are, as explained by the Wabanaki Alliance, “missing out on opportunities for economic development, to increase access to health care, respond to natural disasters, and expand environmental protections.” LD 1626 will finally address this long-standing inequity.
Cobscook Friends Meeting House sits on the coastal waters of Eastern Maine and is on land that was once tribal territory of the Passamaquoddy Indians. We recognize that Western Europeans, which included early Quakers, perpetrated grave injustices against Indigenous Peoples. LD 1626 affords the State of Maine a rare and long overdue opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to restoring the sovereign rights of the Wabanaki tribes.
Janet Weston
Beth Clifford
Co-clerks
Cobscook Friends (Quaker) Monthly Meeting
Whiting