AUGUSTA, Maine - Representatives of Maine's tribal community are joining with domestic violence victim advocates in support a proposal that would give tribal courts jurisdiction over cases involving Indian women who are physically abused by non-Indian men.
Backers of the bill say it will close a loophole in Maine law by amending the state's Indian Claims Settlement Act to conform with new federal domestic violence laws.
The bill before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee would grant the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation jurisdiction in cases involving non-natives living on tribal land, and who violate a tribal ordinance.
And it would make clear that Penobscot tribal courts would have concurrent jurisdiction with the state over criminal offenses in accordance with the federal Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.
Patricia Graffam, a Passamaquoddy Tribe member and domestic violence advocate for the Penobscot Nation, says closing the legal loophole that allows non-tribal members to elude tribal courts is long overdue.
"In the last year on Indian Island, 83 percent of the victimization on native women was committed by non-native men," Patricia Graffam said. "Because these incidents are on a reservation, the non-native is able to slip through a legal system with unclear jurisdictions and is not prosecuted."
Critics pointo ambiguous language in the state’s Indian Claims Settlement Act and to the way that state and tribal courts are structured. Donna Loring, a Penobscot Nation member and former tribal representative to the Legislature, says that, historically, Maine has been slow to extend the same level of recognition to its native peoples that it awards to non-natives.
Loring said the state did not grant tribal members the right to vote in federal elections until 1954, or in state elections until 1967. She said the state's court system has patronized the tribes since 1842 and fails to recognize how far the nation's tribal courts have advanced.
"Our court systems, if given an opportunity, could take on cases that are contributing to the overflow of cases the state now has to deal with," Loring said. "We have a court system that is highly respected, with excellent judges and attorneys that are members of the state bar -- we have come a long ways since 1842."
Sherry Mitchell, a member of the Penobscot Nation and an attorney, recalls that when she was growing up on Indian Island near Old Town, her parents were constantly on the lookout for men driving onto the reservation in search of native girls. She says some members of the nation felt the need to take law into their own hands to protect their own.
"I was not allowed to walk outside after dark in our community because there were carloads of young men from the university that would come and try to grab young women that they found on the street," Mitchell said. "Because nothing was being done about that, there were two young men from our community who took it upon themselves to stand at the bridge - we had the one-land green bridge at that time - and stop every vehicle that came into the community."
Mitchell says approval of the bill would provide more protection to tribal women and restore confidence among tribal members in the state's court system.