With a new legislative session approaching in January, it’s time to restore the right to self-governance to the Wabanaki tribes. This can be done by addressing long-standing problems with a land claims act passed in 1980 that regulates the relationship between the state and Maine’s Indigenous people.
The Maine Legislature will be holding hearings and hopefully will pass L.D. 1626 to do just that. L.D. 1626 is a bill to restore tribal self-government to tribes in Maine. Passage of the bill will affirm our collective commitment to recognize and return the same rights, privileges, and powers to the Wabanaki tribes that are currently held by any other federally recognized Indigenous community in all other other states.
For far too long, Maine’s Wabanaki tribes have been denied the right to govern themselves. We have a chance to get things right by passing this important piece of legislation. Now is the time to demand that our representatives do the right thing. Let’s begin the new year by passing L.D. 1626.
Christopher McKinnon
Augusta
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