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Articles 1 - 27 of 27
Full-Text Articles in Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law
Climate Change And The Reconfiguration Of Arctic Access, Charles H. Norchi, Amanda H. Lynch
Climate Change And The Reconfiguration Of Arctic Access, Charles H. Norchi, Amanda H. Lynch
Faculty Publications
The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth, with surface air temperatures increasing at a rate nearly four times the global average.1 This amplification of global change has been reshaping the Arctic for decades, altering sea ice extent and thickness, snow regimes, permafrost stability, and hydrological systems. Against this backdrop, a persistent narrative has taken hold that the diminishing cryosphere2 is setting the table for opportunity: opening the Arctic to navigation, development, and exploitation. But this thaw renders the Arctic neither benign nor uniformly accessible. The region remains frozen for most of the year, dark for months …
Uncommon Controversy, David Getches
Uncommon Controversy, David Getches
Maine Law Review
In the mid-nineteenth century the Indians of the Northwest were pressured by government agents into signing treaties ceding most of the land they had historically occupied to the United States. In each treaty, besides reserving small tracts of land for themselves, the Indians specifically reserved the right to fish "at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations." Because the lands which the Indians were permitted to reserve were selected so as "not to interfere with existing [non-Indian] claims, or with the progress of settlements," many traditional fishing places were located outside the reservations. The Indians' grudging acceptance of the treaties …
State Power And The Passamaquoddy Tribe: "A Gross National Hypocrisy"?, Francis J. O'Toole, Thomas N. Tureen
State Power And The Passamaquoddy Tribe: "A Gross National Hypocrisy"?, Francis J. O'Toole, Thomas N. Tureen
Maine Law Review
Because of their strategic location on the sparsely settled Canadian border, the Passamaquoddy Indians were of great importance in the American Revolution, and played a decisive role in securing eastern Maine for the United States. As soon as the hostilities had ended, however, the federal government promptly forgot about these Indian allies in what is now the State of Maine and, whether intentionally or not, left the Passamaquoddy Tribe in its dealings with the dominant society to the mercy of Massachusetts and, after 1820, Maine. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is a relatively small one, but there are approximately 120,000 other tribal …
Uncommon Controversy, David Getches
Uncommon Controversy, David Getches
Maine Law Review
In the mid-nineteenth century the Indians of the Northwest were pressured by government agents into signing treaties ceding most of the land they had historically occupied to the United States. In each treaty, besides reserving small tracts of land for themselves, the Indians specifically reserved the right to fish "at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations." Because the lands which the Indians were permitted to reserve were selected so as "not to interfere with existing [non-Indian] claims, or with the progress of settlements," many traditional fishing places were located outside the reservations. The Indians' grudging acceptance of the treaties …
State Power And The Passamaquoddy Tribe: "A Gross National Hypocrisy"?, Francis J. O'Toole, Thomas N. Tureen
State Power And The Passamaquoddy Tribe: "A Gross National Hypocrisy"?, Francis J. O'Toole, Thomas N. Tureen
Maine Law Review
Because of their strategic location on the sparsely settled Canadian border, the Passamaquoddy Indians were of great importance in the American Revolution, and played a decisive role in securing eastern Maine for the United States. As soon as the hostilities had ended, however, the federal government promptly forgot about these Indian allies in what is now the State of Maine and, whether intentionally or not, left the Passamaquoddy Tribe in its dealings with the dominant society to the mercy of Massachusetts and, after 1820, Maine. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is a relatively small one, but there are approximately 120,000 other tribal …
The Meaning And Implications Of "Indian Country": State V. Dana, Maine Law Review
The Meaning And Implications Of "Indian Country": State V. Dana, Maine Law Review
Maine Law Review
The jurisdictional reach of many federal laws relating to Indians is expressly tied to the term "Indian country.” Where "Indian country" exists, these laws, together with the strong federal policies underlying them, can preempt state jurisdiction. According to 18 U.S.C. § 1151, "Indian country" includes (a) any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished. The State of Maine, under the belief that no Indian Country is located within its borders, has throughout …
The Absurd Ballet Of American Indian Policy Or American Indian Struggling With Ape On Tropical Landscape: An Afterword, Rennard Strickland
The Absurd Ballet Of American Indian Policy Or American Indian Struggling With Ape On Tropical Landscape: An Afterword, Rennard Strickland
Maine Law Review
On a recent visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., I was particularly struck by a painting that I encountered. Quite accidentally I came upon an Henri Rousseau primitive painting of a tropical landscape, in which, amidst abundant, lush foliage, was a tiny American Indian wrestling a giant ape. The plate identifying the work read: “‘Tropical Landscape: An American Indian Struggling With An Ape,’ Henri Rousseau, 1910." At that moment it occurred to me that this artist had captured an essential theme underlying the history of American Indian law and policy. This essay reflects upon and …
The Unilateral Termination Of Tribal Status: Mashpee Tribe V. New Seabury Corp., Maine Law Review
The Unilateral Termination Of Tribal Status: Mashpee Tribe V. New Seabury Corp., Maine Law Review
Maine Law Review
Mashpee Tribe v. New Seabury Corp. is the first reported case in which a federal trial court decided the question of an Indian group's existence as a tribe. In Mashpee, the issue of tribal existence arose as a defense to a claim brought by the Mashpee Indians for recovery of lands comprising most of the Town of Mashpee, Massachusetts. At the time of suit, these lands were held by a class of defendants who, according to the Mashpees' complaint, held interests or title acquired without the consent of Congress in violation of the Nonintercourse Act. Based upon the jury verdicts, …
A Reexamination Of Passamaquoddy V. Morton, John M.R. Paterson, David Roseman
A Reexamination Of Passamaquoddy V. Morton, John M.R. Paterson, David Roseman
Maine Law Review
In December 1975, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued its historic decision in Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton. That decision set in motion a sequence of events that only the most prescient of the original participants could have imagined. At its height the litigation that grew out of Passamaquoddy involved a threatened suit by the United States Justice Department on behalf of two Indian groups in Maine against the State of Maine, several of the nation's largest corporations, 350,000 residents, and scores of Maine municipalities. The plaintiffs sought possession of 12,000,000 …
Defense Of Nonintercourse Act Claims: The Requirement Of Tribal Existence, James D. St. Clair, William F. Lee
Defense Of Nonintercourse Act Claims: The Requirement Of Tribal Existence, James D. St. Clair, William F. Lee
Maine Law Review
On August 26, 1976, a group of persons claiming to be the "Mashpee Indian Tribe" commenced suit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against 146 named defendants alleging, inter alia, these named defendants to be representative of a class of defendants asserting interests in and title to a tract of land comprising all but a small fraction of the Town of Mashpee, Massachusetts. Specifically, the Mashpee plaintiff claimed that all persons asserting an interest in or title to the land in the Town of Mashpee obtained that interest or title in violation of section 12 …
Judicial Enforcement Of The Federal Restraints On Alienation Of Indian Land: The Origins Of The Eastern Land Claims, Robert N. Clinton, Margaret Tobey Hotopp
Judicial Enforcement Of The Federal Restraints On Alienation Of Indian Land: The Origins Of The Eastern Land Claims, Robert N. Clinton, Margaret Tobey Hotopp
Maine Law Review
The land claims of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Oneida, Mashpee, Narragansett, and other eastern Indian tribes have recently drawn attention to the federal statute governing alienation of tribal lands upon which the claims are based—25 U.S.C. § 177. This provision conclusively established, at least in theory, the exclusive authority of the federal government to extinguish aboriginal title to land. The actual practice was quite different, however, because some of the original thirteen states, accustomed to some degree of power under the Articles of Confederation in the field of controlling tribal Indian title, did not immediately acknowledge the complete federal preemption of …
Foreword, Penny A. Hazelton
Foreword, Penny A. Hazelton
Maine Law Review
As one who attended the AALS Native American Rights Section meeting on eastern Indian land claims, I am especially pleased that this issue of the Maine Law Review has been prepared. Though the section meeting was interesting, time was short, and many questions were left unresolved or unasked. This issue, while examining the Indian land claims themselves, also includes articles and comments on factual, jurisdictional, and policy issues which arise from the land claim.
A Survey Of Eastern Indian Land Claims: 1970-1979, Tim Vollmann
A Survey Of Eastern Indian Land Claims: 1970-1979, Tim Vollmann
Maine Law Review
The eastern Indian land claims are a remarkable phenomenon of jurisprudence. Unmomentous at the time of their filing, the claims have given rise to litigation attracting nation-wide attention, judicial precedent directly affecting several dozen communities on the east coast, and debates in Congress raising political and constitutional questions that go to the heart of this nation's policy toward Indian tribes. From a broad perspective, this essay surveys the eastern land claims cases and highlights some of the resulting significant legal and political developments.
Solemn Vow: Solum's Originalism, Treaties, And Tribal Sovereignty In Castro-Huerta, Liam T. Sheridan
Solemn Vow: Solum's Originalism, Treaties, And Tribal Sovereignty In Castro-Huerta, Liam T. Sheridan
Maine Law Review
In Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, the Supreme Court held that states have inherent authority to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians in “Indian country.” Only two years earlier, the Court in McGirt v. Oklahoma held that most of eastern Oklahoma was Indian country, and thus immune from any state criminal jurisdiction. Castro-Huerta limited this immunity and narrowed the Court’s view of tribal sovereignty as a whole. The majority represented the Court’s originalist faction—minus Justice Gorsuch, who had penned both the majority opinion in McGirt and the dissent in Castro-Huerta. The majority and dissent disagreed over whether federal statutes preempted Oklahoma’s criminal jurisdiction. …
Five Times More Likely: Haaland V. Brackeen And What It Could Mean For Maine Tribes, Eloise Melcher
Five Times More Likely: Haaland V. Brackeen And What It Could Mean For Maine Tribes, Eloise Melcher
Maine Law Review
In the 1970s Native activists realized that states were removing Native children from their families at disproportional rates when compared to non-Native children. The activists pushed for the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which became law in 1978. The law increases the burden on states before Native children can be taken from their families. As part of a larger movement to attack the Equal Protection Clause in the courts, Haaland v. Brackeen reached the Supreme Court in 2022. The plaintiffs in Brackeen argue that the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, including that …
The Growing List Of Reasons To Amend The Maine Indian Jurisdictional Agreement, Nicole Friederichs
The Growing List Of Reasons To Amend The Maine Indian Jurisdictional Agreement, Nicole Friederichs
Maine Law Review
The Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation brought their lands claims against the State of Maine in an effort to reclaim taken lands, to ensure that they could self-determine their futures and to hold on to their cultures and languages. What they faced were a state and federal governments opposed to such a goal. With favorable court decisions in hand, the Tribes began the long process of negotiating for the financial restitution of those claims. They learned, however, that restitution—the recovery of a small portion of their traditional territories—would only be possible if an agreement was made with the State …
One Nation, Under Fraud: A Remonstrance, Hon. Donna M. Loring, Hon. Eric M. Mehnert, Joseph G.E. Gousse Esq.
One Nation, Under Fraud: A Remonstrance, Hon. Donna M. Loring, Hon. Eric M. Mehnert, Joseph G.E. Gousse Esq.
Maine Law Review
This Remonstrance presents a counter-cultural narrative and analysis of Maine’s legal, political, economic, and social interactions with the Wabanaki people. Although contemporary indicia of abuses by the State are glaringly obvious, a cohesive modern narrative that incorporates Maine’s history of predation upon and mistreatment of the tribes has remained poorly defined from an historico-legal perspective. Presenting its analysis through an historic, legal, political, economic, and social nexus, this Remonstrance traces the ontogeny of control exerted by the State of Maine over the Wabanaki tribes and endeavors to excavate the hidden historical narrative of the calculated politico-legal regime that has for …
The Dark Matter Of Federal Indian Law: The Duty Of Protection, Matthew L.M. Fletcher
The Dark Matter Of Federal Indian Law: The Duty Of Protection, Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Maine Law Review
The United States and every federally recognized tribal nation originally entered into a sovereign-to-sovereign relationship highlighted by the duty of protection, an international customary law doctrine in which a larger, stronger sovereign, America in this case, agrees to “protect” the small, weaker sovereign, in this case, tribal nations. America agreed to this in exchange for massive, occasionally unquantifiable amounts of land and resources, as well as the power to control the external sovereign relations of the protected sovereign. The smaller sovereigns received protected reservation lands, hunting and fishing rights, small cash infusions, and the vague promise of protection. What tribal …
Symposium Keynote: "Isolation And Restraint: Maine's Unique Status Outside Federal Indian Law", Michael-Corey Francis Hinton
Symposium Keynote: "Isolation And Restraint: Maine's Unique Status Outside Federal Indian Law", Michael-Corey Francis Hinton
Maine Law Review
No abstract provided.
Eli-Tpitahatomek Tpaskuwakonol Waponahkik (How We, Native People, Reflect On The Law In The Dawnland), Michael-Corey F. Hinton, Erick J. Giles
Eli-Tpitahatomek Tpaskuwakonol Waponahkik (How We, Native People, Reflect On The Law In The Dawnland), Michael-Corey F. Hinton, Erick J. Giles
Maine Law Review
Multiple nations within the Wabanaki Confederacy, including the Maliseet Nation, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation, were signatories to the July 19, 1776 Treaty of Watertown, which was the first ever treaty entered into by the United States of America following the Declaration of Independence. Following the Treaty of Watertown, Wabanaki warriors served directly under General George Washington and made critical contributions in support of the Americans’ Revolutionary War. Such contributions were made based on the Americans’ promise that the Wabanaki Nations’ lands, natural resources, and traditional ways of life would be forever protected by the fledgling United States. …
Legal Barriers To Tribal Jurisdiction Over Violence Against Women In Maine: Developments And Paths Forward, Nina J. Ciffolillo
Legal Barriers To Tribal Jurisdiction Over Violence Against Women In Maine: Developments And Paths Forward, Nina J. Ciffolillo
Maine Law Review
After claiming title to the land now widely known as the United States, colonizers and settlers imposed a legal system that denies Indigenous nations agency. The United States government has launched a steady attack on attributes of Tribal sovereignty since its inception. The sexism entangled with colonialism encourages violence against women, and limitations on Tribal jurisdiction leave Indigenous nations without adequate recourse for violence against women on their land. Violence against women has become an epidemic in Indian Country, and most aggressors come from outside the territory. In 2013 when Congress granted tribes limited criminal jurisdiction over nonmembers on Tribal …
A Meeting Of The Minds: Utilizing Maine’S State Education System To Promote The Success Of Its Native Students While Maintaining Tribal Sovereignty, Jordan T. Ramharter
A Meeting Of The Minds: Utilizing Maine’S State Education System To Promote The Success Of Its Native Students While Maintaining Tribal Sovereignty, Jordan T. Ramharter
Maine Law Review
The United States Federal Government is failing to provide its Native American students with access to equal educational opportunities. Although “tribal sovereignty” provides tribes with the right to self-govern, a “trust relationship” is maintained between the sovereign nations and the federal government. This duality results in tribes being viewed as “domestic dependent nations” by the federal government. Due to this relationship, the federal government has long recognized not only a right, but a duty to utilize its plenary powers to develop necessary legislative and executive authority in order to support the nation’s tribes. Encompassed in this duty is the responsibility, …
Traditional Ecological Knowledge In Environmental Decisionmaking, Anthony Moffa
Traditional Ecological Knowledge In Environmental Decisionmaking, Anthony Moffa
Faculty Publications
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is defined as a deep understanding of the environment developed by local communities and indigenous peoples over generations. In the United States, Canada, and around the world, indigenous peoples are increasingly advocating for incorporation of TEK into a range of environmental decisionmaking contexts, including natural resource and wildlife management, pollution standards, environmental and social planning, environmental impact assessment, and adaptation to climate change. On October 31, 2018, ELI hosted an expert panel on TEK, co-sponsored by the National Native American Bar Association and the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. The panel discussed …
Indian Nations And The Constitution, Joseph William Singer
Indian Nations And The Constitution, Joseph William Singer
Maine Law Review
This Constitution Day speech focuses on how the Constitution has been interpreted both to protect and to undermine the sovereignty of Indian nations. The good news is that both the text of the Constitution and the practice of the United States have recognized Indian nations as sovereigns who pre-existed the creation of the United States and who retain their inherent original sovereignty. The bad news is that the Constitution has often been interpreted by the Supreme Court to deny Indian nations protection for their property rights and their sovereignty. Most Americans are not aware of the history of interactions between …
Taxation And Doing Business In Indian Country, Erik M. Jensen
Taxation And Doing Business In Indian Country, Erik M. Jensen
Maine Law Review
Economic development on the lands of the American Indian nations has been spotty at best. Almost everyone knows the great success stories with Indian gaming, which has been furthered by federal legislation, but those economic benefits have not been felt uniformly. Some tribes have prospered because of this peculiarly favored form of enterprise; others have not and, in many cases, probably cannot. Substantial economic development in Indian country will not occur without significant infusions of outside capital, but investment by non-Indian and nongovernmental sources is risky, or is perceived to be so, which leads to the same practical result. This …
Waiting For Gluskabe: An Examination Of Maine's Colonialist Legacy Suffered By Native American Tribes Under The Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act Of 1980, Joseph G.E. Gousse
Waiting For Gluskabe: An Examination Of Maine's Colonialist Legacy Suffered By Native American Tribes Under The Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act Of 1980, Joseph G.E. Gousse
Maine Law Review
Legends of the Wabanaki people tell of a mythical demigod named Gluskabe. Immortalized through the cultural traditions of the Wabanaki—from the Mi’kmaq, Abenaki, and Passamaquoddy to the Maliseet and the Penobscot—Gluskabe appears as an integral component of each tribe’s variation of the Creation Myth, as well as numerous other tales and stories. Most prominently, Gluskabe is known for his role in creating the Penobscot River and divining proportion and harmony in the natural world, using his power to reduce the size of the once-giant land animals to establish the first village, legend holds that Gluskabe retired to the southernmost portion …
Traditional Ecological Rulemaking, Anthony Moffa
Traditional Ecological Rulemaking, Anthony Moffa
Faculty Publications
This Article examines the implications of an increased role for Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in United States agency decisionmaking. Specifically, it contemplates where TEK might substantively and procedurally fit and, most importantly, whether a final agency action based on TEK would survive judicial scrutiny. In the midst of a growing body of scholarship questioning the wisdom of deference to agency expertise9 and the legitimacy of the administrative state writ large,10 this Article argues that there remains an important space in administrative rulemaking for the consideration of ways of understanding that differ from traditional Western norms. TEK can and should fill …