Joint council votes to disburse $10.2 million to tribal members

Passamaquoddy tribal members each received $2,891 on July 20 from a multi-million settlement from the U.S. government, after the Joint Tribal Council voted 10 to 3 at a July 16 meeting to disburse the funds to all tribal members on the Pleasant Point and Indian Township census rolls. The Passamaquoddys were awarded $12 million in the settlement, with $10.2 million actually received, after legal and other fees were deducted.
Approximately 150 tribal members attended the standing-room-only joint council meeting held at Pleasant Point to decide on how the settlement funds should be used. Tribal councillor Christine Downing of Pleasant Point asked about those who have not yet been included on the census, including newborns, and councillor Leslie Nicholas of Indian Township noted that there is a process in place for people to be added. Chief Clayton Cleaves of Pleasant Point says that it was decided, after the meeting, to hold out some of the settlement money "pending further recommendations from the census committee" concerning people who have been seeking to be included on the census. The census is updated annually, which has already occurred this year, and he would like to have the census committee confirm who is on the census two or three times a year. The determination should be made by the census committee, he notes, adding, "I don't want it to be political."
According to 2011 figures, there were 3,369 tribal members on the tribal census, with 1,364 at Indian Township and 2,005 on the Pleasant Point census.
Passamaquoddy Rep. Madonna Soctomah says that a few tribal members at the meeting wanted to have funds invested by the tribal government but the majority wanted the funds disbursed. She stated that she felt that, if people had stable jobs and were paying their bills, then they were the ones in a position to favor having the money invested. However, a larger number are not working or able to pay bills, so she supported the feeling of the majority for disbursement of the funds.
Soctomah notes that, since the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980, whenever the tribe has invested funds the investment "has not come to fruition. The ventures have not been successful, except for the blueberry company." While the Northeastern Blueberry Company (NEBCO) has flourished, the monies for the most part go to the tribal government and do not directly benefit the people, she adds.
While the question was raised of how the reservations can be improved if the money is not invested, Soctomah says the tribal government needs to empower tribal members by supporting them to stay healthy, providing jobs and opportunities.
Cleaves says he does not object to the disbursement of the funds, but he notes that the tribe has economic development projects that need funding. "I would have liked to have seen financial investment in the economy and land purchases -- then the tribe gets to own an asset."
However, some tribal members who petitioned for the disbursement of funds believe that the tribal government has not invested funds wisely in the past. Mary Creighton of Pleasant Point, who has pushed for the disbursement, believes that if the money had gone to the tribal councils that the tribal members "wouldn't have seen any of it." She adds, "People feel that if you're going to invest money, they want to invest their own money." Of tribal officials, she asks, "Why should we trust them? The money's never been invested correctly in the past."
Creighton believes the councillors were forced to favor the disbursement "by the threat of recall" and that they would not have supported that action otherwise. One of the petitions that had been presented to the tribal council for the disbursement stated that Chief Cleaves and Lt. Governor Kenneth Poynter should resign if a referendum was not held on the issue. "They should listen to the people and what they want," Creighton says.
Poynter was the only joint council member from Pleasant Point to vote against the disbursement, and a petition is now being circulated to recall him from office for "not helping the people," Creighton says.
While some tribal companies have "gone belly up," Cleaves admits, he says "they might not in the future." Even with a substantial disbursement to tribal members, he would have preferred having some of the funds go toward economic development projects.
The tribal government is working on a comprehensive economic development strategy, which will be sent to the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) when it's completed. A meeting about the strategy, to which all tribal members are invited, will be held at the Community Center at Pleasant Point on Wednesday, August 8, from 6 to 8 p.m., and Cleaves says a public hearing will be held later about possibly adding more projects. He says any proposals that would harm natural resources will be eliminated.
Sixty tribes received settlement offers from the U.S. government, and Cleaves says he expects that other tribes will use their funds in a variety of ways, with some "wiser investment in the economy, social services and education." He adds, "Being tribal chief, I have to look at things globally -- where the tribe as a whole will be five years from now.
The case that resulted in the settlement began six years ago and involves funds from the 1980 settlement act that were to be used for land acquisition but instead were used by the U.S. government to purchase and sell gold. Other funds also were mismanaged. In December, the Department of Interior presented settlement offers to the 60 tribes to resolve tribal litigation cases alleging the mismanagement of trust assets.