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Gov. Janet Mills’ request that the tribal chiefs of the Wabanaki tribes drop their demand for self-determination and sovereignty because of possible “unintended consequences” is confusing. It is not clear to me what those consequences are and who would be affected by them. On the other hand, it is clear that there are 40 years worth of unintended consequences from the Settlement Act itself that have resulted in years of litigation, which is costly to Maine and to the tribes.
The Settlement Act needs to be amended in order for the Wabanaki Tribes to be on an equal footing with the 570 other federally recognized tribes in the United States. In the 40 years since the Settlement Act, the federal government has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the other tribes in this country. As federally recognized tribes, the Wabanaki people should have received more of that funding.
According to the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission, the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement and Maine Implementing Acts have created conditions that violate Wabanaki human rights. We may not be able to go back in history and change the past abuses of the Wabanaki Tribes, but we can stop continuing the abuse today by restoring their sovereignty.
Fran Bodell
Milbridge