The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee has an opportunity to correct the course of Maine’s history by endorsing L.D. 1626 and recognizing the sovereignty of the four federally recognized tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy with whom we share this state.

Tribal sovereignty has been denied by Maine law for over 200 years, since Maine attained statehood in 1820. This denial was reinforced by the Settlement Implementation Act of 1980. It is time for this wrong-headed approach and attitude to be corrected.

L.D. 1626 is a bill that recognizes the rightful sovereignty of the Wabanaki Confederacy and its federally recognized tribes. This bill will give the tribes access to 150 federal laws passed since 1980. It contains 22 recommendations that were fully endorsed by the task force set in place to examine and correct previous errors.

Sovereignty will allow the tribes to determine their communities’ futures without obstruction by the state; it will support the continued stewardship of tribal lands and natural resources for which the tribes have been good stewards for thousands of years. It is Indigenous heritage that has created the beautiful state we all share.

It is time that the laws of Maine be set right. L.D. 1626 will provide much needed systemic change. Let us stand by and with our Wabanaki neighbors in support of this important bill. When the tribes are able to prosper, we will all prosper.

Sarah Sprogell
Freeport

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