To the Editor:
Across the United States, Indigenous tribes have had a 30-year economic boon – well, everywhere except in Maine.
Here, our legislators would rather take the most restrictive view of the 1980 Settlement Act that governs Wabanki Nations in Maine than allow the economic gains all other federally recognized tribes have recorded. The gap is getting wider, too.
Since 1989, personal income in Maine has increased 25 percent while the rest of the states average about 17 percent. The Wabanaki have only been allowed 9 percent, while the average among other federally recognized tribes (gaming and non-gaming alike) is about 60 percent.
This is because the Settlement Act excludes the Wabanaki from more than 150 federal funds, laws, and policies concerning safe drinking water, housing, health care, natural disaster management, and more; it prevents the Wabanki from accessing federal disaster relief funds that would benefit the tribes and their non-tribal neighbors.
Even more poignant, by preventing the Wabanaki from self-governance, legislators deny access to $330 million annually to boost Maine’s gross domestic product, add more than 2,700 jobs, and $39 million in state and local tax revenue.
Legislators have a chance to correct this wrong through LD 2007. The Act to Advance Self-Determination for Wabanki Nations could turn us from the status quo of continued intergovernmental conflict, litigation, recrimination, and mistrust that leaves economic opportunities and justice out of the equation.
Aubrey Bell
Norway
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