BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 26, 2025
Gov. Janet Mills has repeatedly clashed with legislative Democrats on tribal rights. The party’s 2026 gubernatorial candidates are breaking with her on the issue. At the heart of the disagreements between the four federally recognized tribes and Mills is a repeated effort to let tribes benefit from federal laws that do not currently apply to them under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, a landmark 1980 settlement that gave tribes in Maine about $81.5 million in exchange for regulating them essentially like cities and towns. Former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, and former clean energy executive Angus King III each say they would work to “restore tribal sovereignty to the Wabanaki.”