BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 28, 2022
The Mi’kmaq Nation has been treated differently than other tribes in recent agreements with the state. In a 1980 land-claims settlement agreement with the state, the Penobscot Nation, Passamaquoddy tribes and the Houlton Band of Maliseet got a combined $81.5 million in exchange for being effectively governed like Maine municipalities. Those tribes are fighting to overhaul that agreement now. The Mi’kmaq won federal recognition in 1989 after a state law led to Congress approving Maine’s own agreement with the tribe, granting the tribe $900,000 to buy land. But the tribe never ratified a state agreement. Since then, courts have applied the earlier settlement to the Mi’kmaq. The Mi’kmaq has now hired a well-known Maine tribal lawyer to try again to secure a full set of rights being requested by the other tribes.