AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — An effort to change Maine’s relationship with tribes has stalled with pushback from the Mills administration. The 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act effectively allows the state to treat tribes as municipalities, which is different from federally recognized tribes. Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross, a Portland Democrat, said lawmakers must affirm tribes’ “inherent sovereignty in this territory.” Penobscot Nation Ambassador Maulian Dana says lawmakers and tribal leaders have questioned if the bill could receive the attention it need during a legislative session strained by the pandemic.
