This summer, the US Court of Appeals vacated its opinion and granted a rare En banc review of its decision on Penobscot Nation vs. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, (previously known as Penobscot Nation v Mills).
This review will assess whether the appeals court adequately applied Federal Indian Law, when siding with the State of Maine’s claim that no portion of the Penobscot River is within Penobscot territory.
Federal Indian Law “Canons of Construction” are designed to protect federally-recognized Tribes, by siding with the Tribal position if there are ambiguities in the case
The Penobscot Nation adamantly asserts that the Tribe never ceded the Penobscot River under any treaty or the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, and that past case law and daily practice of our stewardship supports that position.
The Penobscot Nation views the State’s action as an attempted territorial taking, a threat to Penobscot stewardship of the Penobscot River, and as a termination policy of the Tribe’s cultural existence within our sustenance fishing waters.
