I am writing in support of L.D. 1626 – an act that will restore sovereignty to the Wabanaki tribes.

I have lived in Maine for 24 years. I was appalled when I learned the history of how the state of Maine has been treating the tribes. I was shocked to learn that the four Maine tribes don’t have the same level of self-governance that the other 570 federally recognized tribes have because the Settlement Acts of 1980 have excluded them from federal legislation benefitting tribes.

I grew up in postwar, modern Germany. My generation underwent a reckoning with the awful history of fascism, racism and the Holocaust. We asked tough questions of our forebears, faced ugly truths about our country’s past and committed ourselves to never let this happen again.

I watch the United States go through a reckoning now, of facing its history of racism and slavery, of land theft and genocide against the Native tribes – the first inhabitants of this land.

We have to make good on the violent acts perpetrated by past generations.

We have to work toward healing and reconciliation.

Acknowledging the four Maine tribes as the sovereign nations they have always been, trusting them as responsible stewards of this land and restoring their self-governance is only a small step toward reconciliation, a first step toward making reparations. It is the least we can do.

Meret Bainbridge
Saco

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