Source: Indian Country Today
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417801
The chief of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians welcomed an announcement by the Houlton Town Council to release its authority over tribal land in support of the band's autonomy.
''It was very surprising. I was very pleased that the town came to that decision. I do absolutely see it as a support of our tribal sovereignty and I think it's a huge step for the town because we have had our issues,'' said Chief Brenda Commander.
The seven-member town council wrote to Commander July 15 announcing its ''consent to the release of jurisdiction over the 177 acres of band land ... upon which the band's housing development and other community facilities are located.''
The town is calling the 177-acre parcel the ''Houlton Band Territorial Land'' and is distinguishing it from the tribe's other lands that are classified as trust and non-trust lands.
That the town has any jurisdiction whatsoever over the tribe's trust property is a flaw in the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, which was the first and largest land claim to be settled under the then newly ''discovered'' 1790 Non-Intercourse Act. The state and courts have managed to interpret the act since then in ways that have steadily eroded tribal sovereignty for the Maliseets, the Passamaquoddy Indians and the Penobscot Indian Nation. Maine's other indigenous nation, the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians, is not subject to the settlement act.
The town's release of the land means the tribe will no longer have to make payments in lieu of taxes to the town. In turn, the town will not provide municipal services such as road repairs, voter registration, or policing on the released land unless the tribe contracts those services.
Houlton Town Manager Douglas Hazlett also praised the initiative and the tribe.
''We value our relationship with the Maliseets and we want to continue to have a good working relationship with them. The tribe has done a wonderful job in building its solid government and providing services for its members.''
He acknowledged that the town council's initiative is an unusually positive gesture toward a tribal government in a state that has gained a reputation in Indian country for its intransigent opposition to tribal sovereignty.