For generations, the Wabanaki Nations have called this land home. Long before the borders of Maine were drawn, the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq peoples lived in deep relationship with the forests, rivers, and coastline. Yet despite centuries of stewardship, nearly all of their ancestral lands were taken—often without compensation, consent, or justice.

A new report from the Maine Center for Economic Policy lays out what many already know: the 1980 land claims settlement did not make the tribes whole. It imposed arbitrary limits on land restitution, denied federal protections available to other tribes, and allowed the state to profit—through land sales, timber extraction, and tourism—from property that was illegally seized. To this day, no tribe in Maine has been able to recover the full acreage promised under the settlement.

It’s time to do better.

The state of Maine must begin a process of returning land to the Wabanaki Nations or entering into co-management agreements—starting with key sites like Baxter State Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters, and Acadia National Park. These lands, though state or federally held, sit on territory originally stewarded by the Wabanaki and remain vital to their cultural and spiritual survival.

We call on Governor Janet Mills and the Maine State Legislature to adopt the recommendations of the MECEP report and initiate land return policies grounded in justice and repair. Maine must also remove the bureaucratic barriers that have blocked tribes from reclaiming even the limited trust land authorized by the 1980 act.

Real reconciliation requires action—not just words. Land return is not symbolic. It’s a tangible step toward healing centuries of dispossession and reestablishing Wabanaki sovereignty. Maine has the power—and the responsibility—to lead.

Sign now to demand the return of stolen land to the Wabanaki Nations.

Photo: Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald