An Act to Advance Self-determination for Wabanaki Nations
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 2007
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: TALBOT ROSS, JACKSON, ABDI, ANDREWS, ANKELES, ARFORD, BABIN, BELL, BOYER, BOYLE, BRENNAN, CARMICHAEL, CLOUTIER, CLUCHEY, COLLINGS, COPELAND, CRAFTS, CRAVEN, CROCKETT, DANA, DHALAC, DILL, DODGE, DOUDERA, EATON, FAULKINGHAM, FAY, GATTINE, GEIGER, GERE, GOLEK, GRAHAM, GRAMLICH, HASENFUS, HEPLER, HOBBS, JAUCH, KESSLER, KUHN, LAJOIE, LEE, LOOKNER, MADIGAN, MALON, MASTRACCIO, MATHIESON, MATLACK, MEYER, MILLETT, MILLIKEN, MONTELL, MOONEN, MORIARTY, MURPHY, O'CONNELL, O'NEIL, OSHER, PAULHUS, PERRY, PLUECKER, PRINGLE, RANA, RECKITT, RIELLY, RISEMAN, ROBERTS, ROEDER, RUNTE, RUSSELL, SACHS, SALISBURY, SARGENT, SAYRE, SHAGOURY, SHAW, SHEEHAN, SKOLD, STOVER, STROUT, SUPICA, TERRY, THERIAULT, WARREN, WHITE, WILLIAMS, ZAGER, ZEIGLER, BAILEY, BEEBE-CENTER, BENNETT, BRAKEY, BRENNER, CARNEY, CHIPMAN, CURRY, DAUGHTRY, DUSON, GROHOSKI, HICKMAN

Legislative Document
No. 2007
H.P. 1287
House of Representatives, June 1, 2023
An Act to Advance Self-determination for Wabanaki Nations
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Speaker TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Cosponsored by President JACKSON of Aroostook and
Representatives: ABDI of Lewiston, ANDREWS of Paris, ANKELES of Brunswick, ARFORD of Brunswick, 
BABIN of Fort Fairfield, BELL of Yarmouth, BOYER of Poland, BOYLE of Gorham, BRENNAN of Portland, 
CARMICHAEL of Greenbush, CLOUTIER of Lewiston, CLUCHEY of Bowdoinham, COLLINGS of Portland, 
COPELAND of Saco, CRAFTS of Newcastle, CRAVEN of Lewiston, CROCKETT of Portland, DANA of the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe, DHALAC of South Portland, DILL of Old Town, DODGE of Belfast, DOUDERA of 
Camden, EATON of Deer Isle, FAULKINGHAM of Winter Harbor, FAY of Raymond, GATTINE of Westbrook, 
GEIGER of Rockland, GERE of Kennebunkport, GOLEK of Harpswell, GRAHAM of North Yarmouth, 
GRAMLICH of Old Orchard Beach, HASENFUS of Readfield, HEPLER of Woolwich, HOBBS of Wells, 
JAUCH of Topsham, KESSLER of South Portland, KUHN of Falmouth, LAJOIE of Lewiston, LaROCHELLE of 
Augusta, LEE of Auburn, LOOKNER of Portland, MADIGAN of Waterville, MALON of Biddeford, 
MASTRACCIO of Sanford, MATHIESON of Kittery, MATLACK of St. George, MEYER of Eliot, MILLETT of 
Cape Elizabeth, MILLIKEN of Blue Hill, MONTELL of Gardiner, MOONEN of Portland, MORIARTY of 
Cumberland, MURPHY of Scarborough, O'CONNELL of Brewer, O'NEIL of Saco, OSHER of Orono, 
PAULHUS of Bath, PERRY of Calais, PERRY of Bangor, PLUECKER of Warren, PRINGLE of Windham, 
RANA of Bangor, RECKITT of South Portland, RIELLY of Westbrook, RISEMAN of Harrison, ROBERTS of 
South Berwick, ROEDER of Bangor, RUNTE of York, RUSSELL of Verona Island, SACHS of Freeport, 
SALISBURY of Westbrook, SARGENT of York, SAYRE of Kennebunk, SHAGOURY of Hallowell, SHAW of 
Auburn, SHEEHAN of Biddeford, SKOLD of Portland, STOVER of Boothbay, STROUT of Harrington, 
SUPICA of Bangor, TERRY of Gorham, THERIAULT of Fort Kent, WARREN of Scarborough, WHITE of 
Waterville, WILLIAMS of Bar Harbor, ZAGER of Portland, ZEIGLER of Montville, Senators: BAILEY of York, 
BEEBE-CENTER of Knox, BENNETT of Oxford, BRAKEY of Androscoggin, BRENNER of Cumberland, 
CARNEY of Cumberland, CHIPMAN of Cumberland, CURRY of Waldo, DAUGHTRY of Cumberland, 
DUSON of Cumberland, GROHOSKI of Hancock, HICKMAN of Kennebec, MOORE of Washington, PIERCE 
of Cumberland, RAFFERTY of York, RENY of Lincoln, ROTUNDO of Androscoggin, TIPPING of Penobscot, 
VITELLI of Sagadahoc.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
CONCEPT DRAFT
SUMMARY
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.
This bill proposes to  make substantial changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement 
Implementing Act to address some of the consensus recommendations of the Task Force 
on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act, referred to in this 
summary as "the task force," and make other changes regarding the Maine Indian Claims 
Settlement Implementing Act.  The task force's report was released on January 14, 2020 
and is available online at http://legislature.maine.gov/maine-indian-claims-tf. In this 
summary, the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30, chapter 601, which is titled AN ACT to 
Implement the Maine Indian Claims Settlement, enacted by Public Law 1979, chapter 732, 
is referred to as "the Maine Implementing Act" and the federal Maine Indian Claims 
Settlement Act of 1980, Public Law 96-420, formerly codified at 25 United States Code, 
Sections 1721 to 1735, is referred to as "the federal Settlement Act."  The federal Settlement 
Act ratified the Maine Implementing Act, and both have an effective date of October 10, 
1980. 
The purpose of the reconsideration and rewriting of the Maine Implementing Act 
would be to establish that the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton 
Band of Maliseet Indians  and the Mi'kmaq Nation have the same rights to self-
determination as other federally recognized Indian tribes within the United States.  This 
bill would make changes to the Maine Implementing Act to restore back to the tribes many 
of the rights, privileges, powers, duties and immunities enjoyed by other federally 
recognized Indian tribes within the United States, which were restricted by the Maine 
Implementing Act.  This would be a significant change from the current law, which 
provides the State with significant authority over Indian affairs.  To carry out this 
significant change, many provisions of Title 30, chapter 601 would be repealed or amended 
to recognize that federal Indian law governs the rights, privileges, powers, duties and 
immunities of the tribe, nations and band. 
Under the bill, except as otherwise specified in the Maine Implementing Act, federal 
Indian law would apply  with regard to the rights, privileges, powers, duties and immunities 
of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians 
and the Mi'kmaq Nation.  "Federal Indian law" is defined for this summary to mean the 
United States Constitution and all generally applicable federal statutes, regulations and 
common law and case law interpreting, implementing, applying or enforcing those federal 
laws and regulations, and subsequent amendments thereto, relating to the rights, status, 
privileges, powers, duties and immunities of federally recognized Indian tribes and their 
members and land or other natural resources within the United States. This definition 
explicitly recognizes that federal Indian law is not static, but evolves as federal common 
law develops, federal laws are passed and amended and as federal courts interpret the 
relevant statutes and regulations and their application to federally recognized Indian tribes, 
nations, bands and other groups.
This bill would incorporate within the Maine Implementing Act the definition of 
"Houlton Band Trust Land" from the federal Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians 
Supplementary Claims Settlement Act of 1986.
This bill would define "Mi'kmaq Nation Trust Land" to include land or other natural 
resources acquired by the United States Secretary of the Interior in trust for the Mi'kmaq 
Nation pursuant to federal Aroostook Band of Micmacs Settlement Act.
This bill would define "Indian territory or trust land" to include, with respect to the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation, the tribe's or nation's Indian territory, with 
respect to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Houlton Band Trust Land, and with 
respect to the Mi'kmaq Nation, Mi'kmaq Nation Trust Land.  This phrase is used throughout 
the bill to describe the lands over which the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, 
the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi'kmaq Nation may exercise rights, 
privileges, powers, duties and immunities similar to those of other federally recognized 
Indian tribes within the United States.
This bill would restructure  the procedures for addition of new land to tribal territories. 
The procedures required would depend upon the location of the land and the time of 
acquisition. 
This bill would eliminate the language in the Maine Implementing Act regarding 
takings of tribal land for public use under state law. 
This bill would provide that the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the 
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi'kmaq Nation, as well as their officers and 
employees, are immune from suit to the same extent as other federally recognized Indian 
tribes and their officers and employees under federal Indian law.
The Maine Implementing Act currently limits the criminal jurisdiction of the 
Passamaquoddy Tribal Court and the Penobscot Nation Tribal Court as well as the potential 
criminal jurisdiction of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians Tribal Court and the Mi'kmaq 
Nation Tribal Court. Federal Indian law provides broader jurisdiction for tribal courts.  This 
bill would repeal most of the state limitations and recognize and adopt most of federal 
Indian law, including the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 
2010, the tribal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act and other federal laws 
addressing tribal court jurisdiction and the obligations of the tribal courts.  This bill would 
restore to the Passamaquoddy Tribal Court, the Penobscot Nation Tribal Court, the Houlton 
Band of Maliseet Indians Tribal Court and the Mi'kmaq Nation Tribal Court criminal 
jurisdiction over Indians and recognize the courts' authority to impose the maximum 
penalties other tribal courts are authorized to impose under the federal Tribal Law and 
Order Act of 2010, as long as the due process protections required by that Act are observed.
This bill would amend state law to recognize tribal court jurisdiction, concurrent with 
the state courts, over offenses committed on tribal lands by Indian defendants against non-
Indian victims, subject to the maximum penalty provisions and due process requirements 
of the federal Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010.  
This bill would retain current law providing that the exclusive authority of the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and 
the Mi'kmaq Nation to exercise criminal jurisdiction over Indians on tribal lands remains 
at the discretion of the tribe, nations and band.  To the extent that the tribe, nations or band 
does not exercise, or terminates its exercise of, exclusive criminal jurisdiction, the State 
would have exclusive jurisdiction over those matters. 
This bill would provide that, when the tribal courts of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the 
Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi'kmaq Nation exercise 
exclusive or concurrent criminal jurisdiction, the definitions of the criminal offenses and 
the punishments applicable to those criminal offenses are governed by state law, except 
that the punishments imposed by a tribal court may not exceed the maximum punishments 
that a tribal court may impose under 25 United States Code, Section 1302(a)(7).
This bill would recognize federal Indian law regarding the exclusive jurisdiction of 
tribes to regulate fishing and hunting by tribal citizens of all federally recognized Indian 
tribes on tribal lands.  This bill would amend the Maine Implementing Act to restore and 
affirm the exclusive jurisdiction of tribes to regulate fishing and hunting by nontribal 
citizens on tribal lands but would  not cede to the State any authority of the Maine Indian 
Tribal-State Commission to regulate fishing on boundary waters under current law. 
This bill would relinquish the State's jurisdiction with respect to the regulation of 
fishing and hunting by both tribal and nontribal citizens on tribal lands.  The State, solely 
for conservation purposes, would be allowed to regulate tribal members engaged in such 
activities off tribal lands to the extent permitted under general principles of federal Indian 
law and in a manner consistent with reserved tribal treaty rights. 
This bill would amend state law to restore to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot 
Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi'kmaq Nation the exclusive 
authority to exercise civil legislative jurisdiction over Indians on tribal lands and the 
concurrent authority to exercise civil legislative jurisdiction over non-Indians on tribal 
lands, including in the area of taxation, as provided by federal Indian law.  This bill would 
amend state law to restore to the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton 
Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi'kmaq Nation the exclusive authority to exercise civil 
adjudicatory jurisdiction over Indians on tribal lands and the concurrent authority to 
exercise civil adjudicatory jurisdiction over non-Indians on tribal lands, as provided by 
federal Indian law.
This bill would provide that, notwithstanding any provision of the Maine Implementing 
Act to the contrary, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of 
Maliseet Indians and the Mi'kmaq Nation may conduct gaming activities only in 
accordance with state law and may not conduct gaming activities under the authority of the 
federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act or under any regulations thereunder promulgated 
by the chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission or its successor organization. 
This bill would take effect 120 days after adjournment of the session during which it 
was enacted only if, within 90 days after adjournment of that session, the Secretary of State 
receives written certification from the Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe 
that the tribe has agreed to its provisions; the Governor and the Council of the Penobscot 
Nation that the nation has agreed to its provisions; the Houlton Band Council of the Houlton 
Band of Maliseet Indians that the band has agreed to its provisions; and the Mi'kmaq Nation 
Tribal Council that the nation has agreed to its provisions.
This bill would repeal or repeal and replace each provision of the Maine Implementing 
Act that was enacted by Public Law 1981, chapter 675 and provide that, if the Houlton 
Band Council of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians certifies its agreement to the 
provisions of this legislation, upon such certification each provision of this legislation 
constitutes a jurisdictional agreement between the State and the Houlton Band of Maliseet 
Indians for purposes of Section 6(e)(2) of the federal Settlement Act but would not 
constitute an agreement by the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians that the contingencies of 
Public Law 1981, chapter 675 were met or that the provisions of Public Law 1981, chapter 
ever took effect. 
This bill would repeal or repeal and replace each provision of Title 30, chapter 603 that 
was enacted by Public Law 1989, chapter 148 and provide that, if the Tribal Council of the 
Mi'kmaq Nation certifies its agreement to the provisions of this legislation, upon such 
certification each provision of this legislation constitutes a jurisdictional agreement 
between the State and the Mi'kmaq Nation for purposes of Section 6(d) of the federal 
Aroostook Band of Micmacs Settlement Act but would not constitute an agreement by the 
Mi'kmaq Nation that the contingencies of Public Law 1989, chapter 148 were met or that 
the provisions of Public Law 1989, chapter 148 ever took effect.