Priscilla Slagger, left, claps as her husband David Slagger, center, shakes hands with Gov. Paul LePage after he was sworn in as Maine’s first Maliseet Indian legislator in the State House’s Cabinet Room this morning in Augusta.

Slagger, of Kenduskeag, will be seated in the House on Thursday.

Two of Maine’s four tribes – the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies – are already represented in the Legislature; the Micmacs are not. The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians was authorized to send a representative to the Legislature in 2010.

Maine is unique among the states in having Indian tribal representatives, according to Maine Indian historian Glenn Starbird. The earliest record of Indian representation dates to 1823, three years after Maine became a state, when the Penobscots sent a member.


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