For around a hundred and fifty years in this country, Native tribes have been legally considered nations within a nation. But in Maine, the situation is more complicated. Maine has restricted the rights of the tribes within its borders more than any other state.
And the amazing thing is, the tribes in Maine agreed to this. And pretty recently. 40 years ago, they signed a deal and surrendered a huge amount of power in exchange for money and land.
Right now the tribes in Maine are fighting for new laws that would restore their powers of sovereignty. And Maine state politicians and town officials are trying to stop them.
Produced by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Brought to you in part by Bangor Savings Bank.
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For around a hundred and fifty years in this country, Native tribes have been legally considered nations within a nation. But in Maine, the situation is more complicated. Maine has restricted the rights of the tribes within its borders more than any other state.
And the amazing thing is, the tribes in Maine agreed to this. And pretty recently. 40 years ago, they signed a deal and surrendered a huge amount of power in exchange for money and land.
Right now the tribes in Maine are fighting for new laws that would restore their powers of sovereignty. And Maine state politicians and town officials are trying to stop them.
Produced by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Brought to you in part by Bangor Savings Bank.
Throughout this podcast series, we’ve been talking about how the tribes of Maine signed away some of their sovereign powers in the 1980 settlement act. That is, except for the Micmacs, Richard’s tribe. The Micmac’s never signed onto the settlement act.
But, not putting pen to paper is only half the story. Because the real question is: Were they better off not signing? Or, was it an even worse fate for the Micmacs than the tribes who did?
Sometimes the only thing worse than a bad deal… is no deal at all.
Brought to you in part by Bangor Savings Bank.
Sovereign
For around a hundred and fifty years in this country, Native tribes have been legally considered nations within a nation. But in Maine, the situation is more complicated. Maine has restricted the rights of the tribes within its borders more than any other state.
And the amazing thing is, the tribes in Maine agreed to this. And pretty recently. 40 years ago, they signed a deal and surrendered a huge amount of power in exchange for money and land.
Right now the tribes in Maine are fighting for new laws that would restore their powers of sovereignty. And Maine state politicians and town officials are trying to stop them.
Produced by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Brought to you in part by Bangor Savings Bank.
