MITSC has recently completed and published a new special report, Sea Run, which addresses the impact of Maine policies and activity on the quality and quantity of traditional tribal fish stocks and sustenance lifeways practices, spanning from the time of first contact between Europeans and the Wabanaki Nations to the present day. This report provides a broad overview of actions and inactions by the State of Maine, whether those actions/inactions were based on express policy, informal policy, or on decisions simply not to have any policy at all. The report includes specific recommendations for implementation that are intended to promote discussion and cooperative action.
Research Report on the 1876 Removal of Article X (10), Section 5 from Printed Copies of the Maine Constitution (2021). For Maine to become a state, Massachusetts first had to pass legislation called the Articles of Separation. That legislation divided and allocated public property and certain obligations as between Maine and Massachusetts once they became separate states. As part of that division, Maine assumed all the “duties and obligations” Massachusetts had as regards the “Indians within said District of Maine.” The Articles also required that its terms and conditions “be incorporated into, and become and be a part of any Constitution, provisional or other, under which the Government of the said proposed State, shall, at any time hereafter, be administered; subject however, to be modified, or annulled by the agreement of the Legislature of both the said States; but by no other power or body whatsoever." The Articles of Separation were included in the Maine Constitution as Section 5 of Article X. This was one of the Sections redacted from printed copies in 1876. Sections 1 and 2 of Article X were also redacted in 1876. They covered when the first Maine legislature would meet, when initial elections would be held, how Senate and House seats would be allocated as between the counties and towns, and what the initial terms of Maine’s elected and appointed officers would be.
This summary was prepared by MITSC in October, 2022. It covers some encour=raging developments in Tribal-State relations from 2019 to the time of writing, while also noting that broad proposals to fundamentally change the restrictive jurisdictional structure imposed on the Wabanaki Tribes by the 1980 Settlement had not been enacted.
This report presents archival research on and analysis of the drafting of the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (MICSA), a federal law enacted in October 1980 to settle land claims brought by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Indian Nation.
This booklet is a compilation of materials presented to the participants of the Roundtable September 19, 2016.
The MITSC examination of the saltwater fisheries conflict between Passamaquoddy and the State of Maine.
The testimony of MITSC Chair Jamie Bissonette Lewey delivered before the Judiciary Committee on March 5, 2013 in support of LD 64 An Act To Place Land in Centerville in Trust for the Passamaquoddy Tribe.
The testimony of MITSC Executive Director John Dieffenbacher-Krall before the Judiciary Committee delivered March 5, 2013 in support of LD 394 An Act To Add Members of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs to the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission and Add Corresponding Members for the State.
The testimony delivered by MITSC Executive Director John Dieffenbacher-Krall to the Judiciary Committee on February 19, 2013 in support of LD 45, An Act To Include a Representative of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs in the House of Representatives.
MITSC PowerPoint presentation to the Judiciary Committee given April 26, 2011.
The MITSC testimony given 4/26/2011 to the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary.
Paul Bisulca, MITSC Chairman, Paul Thibeault, Pine Tree Legal Assistance Attorney, and MITSC Executive Director John Dieffenbacher-Krall address the Maine Legislature in the Senate Chambers about the state of Wabanaki-Maine relations.
This report represents the final product of the Tribal-State Work Group created by Resolve 2007, Chapter 142, 123rd Maine Legislature, Resolve, To Continue the Tribal-State Work Group
MITSC Chairman Paul Bisulca, Pine Tree Legal Assistance Attorney, and John Dieffenbacher-Krall, MITSC Executive Director, address legislators and staff gathered in the Maine House of Representatives.
Governor Baldacci’s Executive Order 19 FY 06/07 directs the Tribal-State Work Group to “study differences in the interpretation and understanding of the Settlement Acts.” It tasks the Work Group with developing “recommendations for how the 123rd Legislature might reconcile the issues in a manner that benefits both the Tribes and the State.” The 13 members of the Tribal-State Work Group to Study Issues Associated with the Maine Implementing Act unanimously recommend continuation of the group. Accomplishments of the Tribal-State Work Group include acting as a catalyst for including in-house and external briefing sessions on the Wabanaki, the Maine Implementing Act, and tribal-state relations in the official legislative orientation for the 123rd Maine Legislature, forging a consensus to recommend including seats for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians on the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission, and drafting legislation to add the Maliseets to MITSC (see appendix seven).
A review, pursuant to a Legislative Resolve, of how the civil laws of Maine affect the ability of Indian Tribes to regulate their members, lands, schools, cultural institutions, and communities in ways that honor tribal traditions.
Pursuant to Resolves 1997, Chapter 45, the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission (MITSC)is authorized and directed to undertake a systematic review of the civil laws of the State of Maine over a period of four years. The purpose of the review is to determine the manner and extent to which these laws, as enforced, constrict or impinge upon the best interests of children with respect to the: - Traditional culture and way of life as practiced in tribal communities; - Ability of the Tribes to regulate their members, lands, schools, and other cultural institutions and communities in a manner that honors tribal traditions; and - Respect and dignity appropriately given to all individual citizems in the State and members of the Tribes.
At Loggerheads - The State of Maine and the Wabanaki is the final report of the Task Force on Tribal-State Relations. The Task Force on Tribal-State Relations was created by the 117th Maine Legislature. It worked from June 1996 through early January 1997 to explore ways of improving the tribal-state relationship and the effectiveness of MITSC.
Created as part of the settlement, the Commission is required to review its effectiveness and the relationship between the State and the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Indian Nation. The Commission hopes that this report will promote greater understanding of the issues and deeply held beliefs that shape today's debates about tribal-state relations.
The MITSC testimony presented concerning LDs 270, 427, and 1456 before the IF&W Committee.
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