U & D

If you are not aware of Indigenous Voices, a monthly talk radio show focused on Maine Native topics, check it out today. On 8/19/08, the show dialogued with Penobscot Nation Tribal Chief Kirk Francis. This interview contains a terrific overview of tribal government and its process. Chief Francis discusses the Penobscot sovereign status, a [...]

[Read more]

I have just today run across this digital archive of Indian treaties, laws and court decisions (up to 1970): http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/index.htm.  There is a pretty good index, but I find browsing through a set of summaries to be fascinating. For example, take a minute to scan down through this encapsulation of federal definition and jurisdiction relating [...]

[Read more]

Do you know about S.1200  Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2008?  This Bill has passed the US Senate and is on its way to the House (which means it should get on the docket eventually…)
The major purpose of the Bill is the yearly renewal, for budgetary purposes, of the Indian Health Care Improvement [...]

[Read more]

This post could be subtitled: Read this Interview. The interview in question is Indian Country’s interview with Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis, following the Wabanaki Confederacy Conference at the end of June. In the interview, Chief Francis speaks about Maine state economic aid to the Penobscot nation, clarifying for readers “how much” aid is actually received [...]

[Read more]

There have been at least three specific recent events that illustrate the complex issue of Native sovereignty in Maine: the ongoing debate over the proposed LNG facililty at Sipayik / Split Rock on the Pleasant Point reservation; the meeting between Penobscot (and other) tribal leaders with Tribal officials from Venezuela; and the participation of the [...]

[Read more]

This post owes a debt to Donna Loring, who said to me once, “It’s all about economics.” Economy is an important word on the Word Wall. Take a minute, if you have time, to read Loring’s blog posts on Tribal Economics and Part II. This is the ongoing story of the deliberate scattering - destruction [...]

[Read more]