American Rights Fund

This case firmly established a fiduciary relationship between the federal govern- ment and the Passamaquoddy Tribe and set the stage for the poten- tial return of millions of acres of land to the Passamaquoddy Tribe and other "non-recognized" Eastern tribes, whose claims would fall under the protection of the 1790 Non-Intercourse statute. [...] ' Because the appeals court and the district court held that the government had a fiduciary responsibility to the Passa- maquoddy Tribe, based on the Non-Intercourse Act, the federal government, as trustee for the Tribe, was obligated to file action against the state in order to protect the interests of the Tribe. [...] Throughout the duration of these cases, the Maine Attorney General's Office has maintained that the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy claims are without merit, but since the cases were reactivated, the Department of the Interior has held firm in its support of the Tribal claims. [...] tribes include the Wampanoags of Gay Headland Mashpee, Massachusetts; the Narragan- setts of Charlestown, Rhode Island, the Schaghticokes of Kent, Connecticut; the Western Pequots of Ladyard, Connecticut; the Oneidas of New York; and the Catawbas of South Carolina. [...] This means that the Tribe has the authority to receive damages and either to evict the railroad or to explore the pos- sibility of negotiating a new agreement for the railroad's future use of the right-of-way.