Stand with the Wabanaki by Submitting Your Testimony in Support of LD 2007

On Monday, the Maine legislature’s Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on LD 2007, the bill to restore the Wabanaki Nations’ inherent right to self-determination within their respective territories in accordance with the same federal laws that apply to all 570 other federally recognized tribes in the United States.

Our Wabanaki friends are asking for as much written testimony as possible to demonstrate robust support of the bill from across the state. Will you help?

You can find all the information you need to submit written testimony at the LD 2007 Take Action Toolkit! Or see below for sample testimony and instructions for submitting.

Based on consensus recommendations from a bipartisan task force convened by the Maine Legislature, the legislation addresses long-standing issues with the Land Claims Act passed in 1980 that governs the relationship between the state and the tribes in Maine.

Passing the bill will allow the Wabanaki tribes to access federal funds and other opportunities to expand environmental protection, protect safe drinking water, respond to natural disasters (including the impacts of climate change), and more.

AMC’s support for tribal self-determination is based in the relationships we have built with the Wabanaki tribes, in our confidence that the tribes can and will steward our natural resources, as they did for thousands of years before European contact, and in our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

Thank you for speaking up loudly and clearly for fairness and justice for the Wabanaki.

Sincerely,

Eliza Townsend
Maine Conservation Policy Director

Sample testimony

We encourage you to adapt this sample testimony to your own words, making it personal and heartfelt. After submitting your testimony, please send it to your State Legislators and the Governor using the forms on their websites.

Dear Senator Carney, Rep. Moonen and members of the Judiciary Committee,

Please support LD 2007, An Act to Advance Self-determination for Wabanaki Nations.

This reasonable bill implements the consensus recommendations of a bipartisan 13-member task force. It will establish that three federally recognized tribes, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, and the Houlton Band of Maliseets, enjoy the same “rights, privileges, powers, duties and immunities” as all 570 other federally recognized tribes in the United States.

The bill will allow the tribes to complete a cornerstone of the 1980 lands settlement, the purchase of lands from willing sellers. It will attract investment that will benefit rural Maine. Because the Wabanaki have been careful stewards of natural resources for thousands of years, it will benefit our environment and wildlife.

I hope that you will support basic fairness by voting in favor of LD 2007.

Sincerely,

(Your name and town of residence)

How to submit your written testimony

• To submit written testimony, visit  https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/
• Select “public hearing”
• Select “Judiciary” as the committee hearing this bill.
• Select February 26 as the day of the hearing
• Select the bill — LD 2007.
• Enter your testimony, by uploading a PDF or by copying the text and pasting it into the testimony field.
• Enter your name and contact information, check the “captcha” box, and select “submit/register.”