Houlton Band withdraws from Maine Legislature amid inaction on gaming

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians is withdrawing its representative from the Maine Legislature, a further sign of the erosion in tribal-state relations.

The tribe was the lone holdout after other Indian nations withdrew their representatives more than three years ago. All were upset about the lack of action on their issues in the state capital.

But now that the state's highest court has refused to rule on a gaming question referred by the Legislature, the Houlton Band is pulling out, The County reported. The tribe's representative, who had authored the referring question, told the paper that casino efforts will continue through other means.

“Going forward there is expected to still be tribal gaming efforts even without our presence in the Maine Legislature," outgoing State Rep. Henry John Bear told The County.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, tribes possess the inherent authority to legalize and regulate gaming on their own lands. A year after the decision, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to provide a national framework for dealing with casinos in Indian Country.

The Houlton Band, however, falls under a land claim settlement which appears to bar the tribe from following IGRA -- or any other federal Indian law -- unless Congress specifically says so. The long and complicated passage from the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act follows:

The provisions of any Federal law enacted after October 10, 1980, for the benefit of Indians, Indian nations, or tribes or bands of Indians, which would affect or preempt the application of the laws of the State of Maine, including application of the laws of the State to lands owned by or held in trust for Indians, or Indian nations, tribes, or bands of Indians, as provided in this subchapter and the Maine Implementing Act, shall not apply within the State of Maine, unless such provision of such subsequently enacted Federal law is specifically made applicable within the State of Maine.

Mindful of the hurdles, the Houlton Band and other tribes have repeatedly gone to state lawmakers to seek approval for gaming developments. All of those efforts have failed.

Some tribes have even asked voters for help. Voters rejected those appeals while approving two non-Indian casinos in the state.

Despite the history, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court declined to answer the question posed by House Order 72. It read:

"Does the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, 480 U.S. 202 (1987) allow the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, a federally recognized Indian tribe, to conduct gambling on tribal trust land without permission to do so from the State?"

The court's November 20 order said no "solemn occasion exists" to answer the question because the Maine House of Representatives didn't even bother submitting a brief as requested.

"When the body propounding a question does not, upon our request for briefing of the issue, provide any response that asks us to determine the existence of a solemn occasion that would justify our consideration of a propounded question, we will determine that the question is not 'of a serious and immediate nature' and that the situation does not 'present an unusual exigency,'" the opinion stated.