In this foundational case that paved the way for the Maine Indian Land Claims, the federal Court of Appeals rejected the State’s constricted view of the legal status of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and affirmed that the United States government had always had a trust responsibility to the Tribe. After the Morton decision, and prior to the 1980 Settlement, the federal government belatedly extended federal recognition to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation.
