SUN JOURNAL • May 14, 2022
Following four years of work by local tribes, the LD 1626 Wabanaki tribal sovereignty bill gained bipartisan sponsorship in the Maine Legislature, passed 81-55 in the House, and was voted “ought to pass” in the Senate. For tribes, sovereignty would mean that they gain the rights necessary to govern themselves, largely apart from Maine state laws. Despite the urgent need for LD 1626 and the broad support it has garnered, Gov. Janet Mills proclaimed that she would veto the bill if the Legislature sent it to her to sign into law. Another legislative session ended without sovereignty for Maine’s tribes. By rejecting this bill, Gov. Mills preserves Maine’s strained relationship with native people, neglects to provide basic rights for the state’s tribes and leaves Maine behind the rest of the nation. ~ Katie Draeger, Bowdoin College Climate Justice group