To: Committee on Judiciary
From: Matt Cannon, Sierra Club Maine
Date: May 4, 2021
Re: Testimony in Support of LD 1626 An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act
Senator Carney, Representative Harnett, and Members of the Committee on Judiciary. I am Matt Cannon, and I write on behalf of Sierra Club Maine’s over 20,000 members and supporters. Founded in 1892, Sierra Club is one of our nation’s oldest and largest environmental organizations. We work diligently to amplify the power of our 3.8 million members nation-wide as we defend everyone's right to a healthy world, and we strongly support tribal sovereignty and LD 1626.
This bill would recognize the Wabanaki tribes’ inherent right to self-determination: finally addressing the issues with the 1980 settlement implementing act that have put the Wabanaki tribes in a category separate from all other federally-recognized tribes in the U.S. The tribes in the land we call Maine deserve the rights and powers ascribed to all other federally recognized Indian tribes. This bill is long overdue.
To be clear, LD 1626 is restoring the rights of the tribes to self-determination. The Wabanaki are sovereign Nations and have the right to make their own decisions for themselves and their communities.
We urge Ought to Pass for LD 1626.
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Cannon
Campaign & Policy Associate Director
Sierra Club Maine