In October 2025, Wabanaki Coalition member organization Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) released a special report, Sovereignty Starts Here: Land, Economy, and Tribal Rights in Maine.
Drafted in consultation with Wabanaki leaders, the report provides an overview of the history of the seizure of Wabanaki land in Maine, the moral and economic importance of land return, and state and federal policy recommendations that provide a path toward the restoration of Wabanaki sovereignty.
“Maine’s future prosperity is tied to justice for the Wabanaki Nations. For centuries, state and federal governments seized Wabanaki lands, denied sovereignty, and treated the tribes as a burden rather than partners. Correcting these injustices is both a moral obligation and an economic opportunity,” report authors wrote.
MECEP recently hosted a discussion on the report, featuring panelist Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance and a citizen of the Penobscot Nation.
“What can get lost sometimes in the seemingly endless discussions on policy and jurisdiction is that what this all boils down to is land. The stewardship, theft, relationship, health, lasting consequences of dispossession and disruption of culture and lifeways, and the philosophy of how we are connected to land all form the basis of how we learn about and talk about tribal sovereignty in our homelands now called Maine,” Bryant said.
“This report from MECEP is empowering and enlightening and we are thankful for this new research on old knowledge and hope it can assist all Mainers in understanding the Wabanaki,” she added.
