BOSTON — Placing bets over a toll-free telephone line run by a Canadian Indian tribe is still gambling — and still illegal everywhere but Nevada — according to officials in Maine and two other states working to block the line.

But the Maliseet Nation at Tobique said the operation is no different from that of other businesses which take wagers across state lines. The tribe called attempts to block its operation racially motivated.

The Maliseets, who number about 1,400 in the province of New Brunswick, across the border from Maine, opened the one-room operation in August and accept bets from the United States and Europe, spokesman Max Perley said. He said the tribe does not accept bets from Canadian gamblers because it did not want to compete with the Canadian government’s sports lottery.

“The economic situation is very stressful right now and this is one source of income for the tribe,” he said. The Maliseets also operate a casino, gas station and grocery store in New Brunswick, he said.

“There’s no question [plans to block it] are racially motivated. None whatsoever,” Perley said.

Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, who is working with his counterparts in Maine and Connecticut to alert other states to the operation, said economic hardship does not justify illegal activity.

“While we may be sympathetic to the tribe’s needs, the need to be self-sufficient is not an excuse to break the law,” Harshbarger’s spokesman Ed Cafasso said.

Maine Gov. Angus King, who opposes the spread of gambling, said the situation was a complicated one dealing with international commerce and the Internet. He said it might be better handled by federal authorities.

“Yes, it’s a concern. I don’t know to what extent the state of Maine can deal with it as opposed to the federal government,” King said Thursday. “I think it’s probably more of a federal issue because it’s in another country.”

The tribe has advertised the line extensively, and last month established a site on the World Wide Web to promote the 800 number, give odds and explain their operation.

“We’re operating openly and legally in Canada and the minute we’re told not to, we’ll close our doors,” Perley said.

Potential gamblers are told to wire money to a Canadian bank. They are given numbers to identify themselves when they call to place bets up to $2,500 that are accepted on most major sporting events except horse racing.

Harshbarger’s office said the state is more interested in shutting down the line than prosecuting gamblers who’ve called it.

“We don’t have the resources to try to find who’s using the line,” Cafasso said.

Perley said the line has been called most often from the state of Minnesota, and that response from New England states has been lukewarm.