A federal judge has delivered a closely watched decision in a lawsuit defining the boundaries of the Penobscot Indian Reservation and the tribe's sustenance fishing rights on the river's main stem.
The judge finds that the reservation includes the islands but not the waters of the Penobscot and clarifies that the tribe has sustenance fishing rights on the entire 60-mile stretch.
The case arose three years ago after tensions flared between the state and the tribe over regulation of the river. After the tribe announced it had exclusive jurisdiction over the main stem, former Attorney General William Schneider issued an opinion that said the Penobscot Nation reservation consists of the islands but not the waters of the river. So, a few days later, the tribe filed suit, asserting that the boundaries of its reservation extended to the river banks found on either side of the main stem.
Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis was among dozens of people who sat in on oral arguments in the case in October.
"We're focusing on, where does our right to sustenance-based fish exist?" he said at the time. "That's it."
And in his 64-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge George Singal answered that question, declaring that the Penobscot Nation could take fish for individual sustenance in the entirety of the main stem section of the river.
In making that finding, Singal wrote that "the current undisputed record shows a long history of Penobscot Nation members sustenance fishing the entirety of the main stem, and an intention on the part of the Maine Legislature, Congress and the Penobscot Nation to maintain the status quo."
But he also ruled in favor of the state's position that the Penobscot Indian Reservation includes the islands but not the waters of the main stem.
"We're pleased with the result in this case," says Attorney General Janet Mills. "I think the judge took a great deal of effort and explored the thousands and thousands of pages of documents filed with the court."
Mills says she thinks Singal properly ruled that the river itself is not within the Penobscot Nation's reservation. In a footnote about his rationale in making that decision, the judge wrote that a declaration that the boundaries extend bank-to-bank on the main stem could only be made if the hundreds of landowners along the shore were also made parties to the case.
Singal wrote that the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 "expressly defines the Penobscot Indian Reservation" as the islands in the Penobscot River "consisting solely of Indian Island, also known as Old Town Island, and all islands in that river northward."
"At the same time, the state of Maine has always said that individual tribal members have sustenance fishing rights and we've always accorded that right, respected that right," Mills says. "We continue to do so."
Mills says she hopes the tribe will be satisfied with the ruling and that both sides will be able to work together to ensure that future conflicts on the river are minimized.
Calls to the Penobscot Nation seeking comment for this story were not returned by airtime.
