History & Documents Regarding 1980 Settlement

The Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980 was the result of legal and historical developments that began even before Maine became a state. Contrary to the basic principles of Federal Indian Law, during the time from the separation of Maine from Massachusetts in 1820 until the 1970s the Federal Government and the State of Maine did not treat the Wabanaki Tribes as sovereign Indian tribes. However, in 1975 in the case of Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, the federal Court of Appeals rejected the State’s constricted view of the Tribes and affirmed that the United States government had always had a trust responsibility to the Tribes. After several years of negotiations the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980 was signed on October 11, 1980. The Settlement finally settled the tribal land claims and fundamentally altered Tribal-State jurisdiction. The Settlement consisted of two interrelated statutes, federal and state, both of which required approval by Congress, in accordance with US Constitution and Federal Indian Law.