New tribal delegate stresses dialogue

loading...

INDIAN TOWNSHIP – He is experienced in the ways of state government, and that is why newly re-elected tribal state Rep. Donald Soctomah is looking forward to the next four years.

Since 1994 the nonvoting lawmaker position has alternated every four years between the tribe’s reservations at Indian Township and Pleasant Point in Down East Maine.

In 1994, Fred Moore III of Pleasant Point was elected tribal state representative. Soctomah succeeded him in 1998. Moore succeeded Soctomah in 2002, and Soctomah succeeded Moore last year.

“I spent a lot of time [while out of office] at Pleasant Point and Indian Township. I saw a lot of things that if I went back to Augusta … I could try to do that could help the communities,” he said. “Some I am going to work on this session, some next session.”

In an interview, Soctomah spoke of tribal leadership and how it has been a part of his family.

In the 1800s his great-great-grandfather Sopiel Selmore was a wampum keeper. “He would carry around various belts made out of quahog shells that had stories on it. He would carry that wampum belt to Quebec, where all the tribes from northern and southern Canada met … to work together to keep the tribes unified for protection,” he said.

Soctomah, who is the Passamaquoddy historic preservation officer, said it is important he continue to carry the message of the tribe’s history around the state.

“I [want] to go out and communicate with the Maine public about the tribe,” he said. “I always try to follow [Selmore’s] footsteps, but I will never do as good as a job as he did.”

Now back in Augusta, Soctomah has divided his legislative priorities into human rights and economic development issues.

“When I say ‘human rights,’ I’m not saying special [rights]. We want to be recognized as native people. We want human rights that relate to our existence as native people,” he said.

Soctomah has drafted 12 bills.

A major one – the racino bill – goes before the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee today. The bill was drafted last year, and Soctomah is working to get it approved.

The Passamaquoddy plan would allow for up to 1,500 slot machines at a tribally owned racetrack near one of the tribe’s two reservations in Washington County.

The revenues would be divided among various entities, including the state’s general fund, the Maine Community College System, harness racing purses and other Maine tribes.

The state already has a gambling facility in Bangor. Hollywood Slots is in a temporary location as it prepares to build a $130 million racing casino nearby.

The tribe’s racino faces a tough battle. Gov. John Baldacci doesn’t favor it and there is organized opposition to it.

“I am hoping the governor will sit down and look at it,” Soctomah said.

He noted that some negative issues such as an increase in crime, raised before the Bangor facility opened, haven’t occurred in Bangor.

If the bill isn’t approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor, it goes before voters in November.

Another bill Soctomah has introduced would rename a portion of U.S. Route 1 from the Princeton-Indian Township bridge to Topsfield, the Capt. Tomah Lewey Memorial Highway. Soctomah has support from communities in the area.

Lewey was a tribal member who traveled the area and established the first permanent year-round community at Indian Township.

“We’ve had village sites there for the last 10,000 years,” he said. “But he established the first farm in eastern Maine, right where the [Indian Township] tribal office is.” That was in the-mid 1700s.

Soctomah has also introduced a bill dealing with religious rights in Maine prisons.

Earlier this month, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims joined with representatives of Maine’s tribes to urge legislators to support the measure, which would guarantee American Indians the right to practice their religion in state prisons.

The measure would allow for sweat lodges, talking circles and other religious practices. “I’ve seen people change their lives when religion is involved, no matter what religion it is,” he said. “I’ve watched people come out of federal prison and they’ve brought religion into their lives and religion has completely turned them around.”

Other bills Soctomah has introduced:

. To recognize the petroglyphs in Machias Bay as a state treasure.

. To allow American Indians the right to gather sweet grass and brown ash on state-owned lands for basketmakers.

. To set aside 5 percent of the money from the Land For Maine’s Future to buy and protect archaeological sites throughout the state.

. To allow lifetime state hunting and fishing licenses for tribal members.