Leaders of the Penobscot Nation and their attorneys are weighing possible next steps after a federal judge issued a split decision in a lawsuit over jurisdiction of their namesake river Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge George Singal ruled that the tribe has the right to sustenance fishing in the main stem of the Penobscot, but he also said the tribe's reservation does not extend to the river itself.
Chief Kirk Francis says the tribe is pleased that the judge has affirmed its rights to sustenance fish from bank to bank in the 60-mile main stem of the Penobscot River. But Francis says the question of who controls hunting and trapping in the same part of the river is murky because the judge has declared that the Penobscot Reservation is confined solely to islands and not waters in the main stem.
"I don't know if you can say that there's a sustenance fishery bank to bank, but there is — that's not in your territory," he says. "So, the question becomes, who gets to manage that over individual tribal members? And that's where the tribe feels their exclusive authority exists."
"The river is there for the enjoyment and access by all people, tribal members and non-tribal members," says Attorney General Janet Mills. She says that's the guiding principle on the state's largest navigable waterway.
She says she's also pleased with the decision and says she hopes the state and the tribe can work together to reduce possible conflicts on the Penobscot.
But the tribe, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, which intervened on the tribe's behalf, is not ruling out an appeal. Since the decision Wednesday, Francis says the tribe has received an outpouring of support.
"From organizations, from federal agencies, from tribes in other states and just individual Maine citizens expressing their continued support for the tribe and wanting to be part of the solutions moving forward," he says.
Whatever the next step, Francis says it's not a matter that's being taken lightly. It is, he says, about protecting the cultural identity of the Penobscot Nation.
