Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act
The Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (MICSA) of 1980 allowed the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indian tribes to acquire land in Maine:
Land purchases: The tribes were given $54.5 million to purchase land, and in 1980 they bought 150,000 acres of timberland from the Dead River Land Company of Maine. The Penobscot Tribe bought 120,205 acres, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe bought 30,082 acres.
Trust funds: The tribes were given a $27 million trust fund. The Passamaquoddy Tribe held all of its land in trust, while the Penobscot Tribe put 41,486 acres into trust and bought the remaining 78,719 acres in fee.
The MICSA also:
Extinguished the tribes’ land claims
Provided reparations to the tribes
Limited the application of federal Indian laws in Maine
Ratified the Maine Implementing Act, which determined how the assets would be distributed to the tribes
The MICSA was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter after a long legal battle between the state of Maine and the tribes.
The tribes claimed that 12 million acres of land, or almost two-thirds of Maine, belonged to them.