Wabanaki

Leaders of the Wabanaki Nations gathered with supporters in Freeport on Thursday night for a “celebration,” one week after a high-profile bill was blocked by Gov. Janet Mills. But as tribal and legislative leaders made clear repeatedly, they viewed the recent vote as a temporary setback, not a defeat.

The Maine House has voted to uphold Gov. Janet Mills' veto of a bill that was a top priority for leaders of the Wabanaki Nation.

That vote could happen as early as Thursday. And the outcome is far from assured. So here’s a primer on the legislation, what’s at stake and the arguments from both sides.

Gov. Janet Mills has vetoed a high-profile bill that aimed to allow Wabanaki tribes to access additional federal laws. The question now is whether tribal leaders and their allies can maintain enough support to override the governor.

The Mills administration has not changed it’s opposition to a bill sought by Wabanaki tribal leaders despite recent changes to the proposal.

How humans have changed the environment is one focus of the CODE RED exhibit. The other is on Indigenous wisdom. Indigenous people make up 4% of the world's population and steward 80%tof the biodiversity on just 20% of the land base. That's why the UN secretary general says they "hold many of the solutions to the climate crisis.

Federal officials from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management were in Bangor this week to gather feedback from state officials, fishermen and tribal members about potential offshore wind development projects that may be sited in the Gulf of Maine.

A spokesperson for Mills said the governor had been invited but cannot attend because of a scheduling conflict. Instead, she's invited the tribal chiefs to meet her afterwards.

State lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday about a proposed constitutional amendment that aims to reverse a nearly 150-year-old decision to stop printing a portion of Maine's Constitution related to the Wabanaki nations.

Maine tribal members couldn't vote when the Baxter State Park Authority was created in 1931. Now lawmakers are considering whether a tribal member should have a say in how the park is run.