According to a press release, dated December 5, 2022, from the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development released a research report documenting the costs to the Wabanaki Nations in Maine—Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot—and to Maine’s non-tribal citizens of the non-application of federal Indian laws that promote Indian self-determination and self-governance. In an attempt to help address this issue, earlier this year, Rep. Jared Golden introduced HR 6707, a bill to amend the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act so that the Wabanaki tribes can benefit from future federal laws that generally apply to 570 other federally recognized tribes. The measure was ultimately added on to another bill and passed the House with bipartisan support. It failed in the Senate because it was not supported by Maine's U.S. Senators.
