Senate candidate Graham Platner (D., Maine) called to return land to natives in the state he’s running to represent, arguing that longstanding injustices committed by state and federal governments remain unresolved.
“I, for one, am a firm supporter in any legislation that increases tribal sovereignty for the indigenous population in Maine,” Platner said Monday during a virtual town hall. “I also am a firm supporter of any legislation on the federal level that begins to give more, frankly, land back to the indigenous peoples that was taken from them, and there are a few mechanisms of doing this.”
“Tribal sovereignty, quite frankly, is a foundation of my politics,” he added. “I don’t think we get to have a future full of justice, dignity, and peace, but we don’t right the injustices of the past.”
There are roughly 10,000 indigenous people living in Maine—the 10th smallest population in the United States, according Census data in 2021.
So-called land-back advocates typically call for returning public lands, specifically, to natives. In March, the Atlantic published an essay by a ranger and native who argued that “tribal members from all nations” should join together and sue the government “for treaty violations—and settle for the return of federal lands.” He said it would “be good for every American.”
Federal legislation has also been introduced to take aim at the issue. On Monday, in fact, the Senate passed a bill that would pay a Michigan tribe $34 million to settle 150-year-old land claims, though it does not give the tribe land directly. The same bill passed the Senate in 2023, but stalled in the House.
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