In “Slow and steady negotiation best route for Maine tribes” on June 11, columnist Jim Fossel wrote about Wabanaki tribal nations’ efforts to have their sovereignty restored by our Maine Legislature; sovereignty was removed in 1980 by the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act. Two bills, L.D. 2004 and L.D. 2007 (tabled until January), will help this happen. Bipartisan leadership in the Maine House and Senate strongly supports sovereignty.

Over 2,000 individuals and over 120 businesses and organizations strongly support Wabanaki sovereignty via the Wabanaki Alliance, with their numbers growing continually.

Restoring tribal sovereignty should be done via “painstaking negotiations” in a “slow and steady” manner, says Fossel. This has been tried for decades.

The most recent sovereignty bills were crafted from a bipartisan document released in 2020, providing 22 recommendations to the Legislature with input from tribal leaders, bipartisan legislators and others. Sovereignty is only one of the 22 recommendations: Painstaking negotiations.

Congress renewed the Violence Against Women Act to include tribal nation women, but Wabanaki women were omitted in Maine by MICSA. Seven years later, Maine approved their inclusion. Slow.

The Affordable Care Act allows tribal nations to access medical professionals from other states to provide services because of a shortage of doctors, nurses, etc., where they live. Maine said, “No!” Ten years later, Maine approved this for the Wabanaki people. Slow.

Wabanaki leaders have shown amazing patience with our state’s “slow and steady” process, to the detriment of their lands and citizens. The time is now to “do the right thing,” per Fossel’s closing words.

June and Roy Smoot
Kennebunk

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