Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today welcomed the news that protections for tribal citizens have finally been signed into law. Included in the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress last week, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was reauthorized to strengthen and sustain successful programs from the 1994 law. The final bill, signed by President Joe Biden, includes language Pingree championed to expressly ensure Maine’s tribal communities are protected under the jurisdictional provisions of VAWA, like all other nationally recognized tribes. 

“Since its groundbreaking passage in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has protected and helped millions of domestic violence survivors. Congress has worked to reauthorize and strengthen this vital law, which has reduced domestic violence rates by half,” said Pingree. “As successful as the Violence Against Women Act has been, it has unfairly excluded Maine Tribes and caused them to lose out on protections that have been extended to every other federally recognized tribe in the country. After years of fighting to address this unfairness, I’m thrilled this long-overdue correction has finally become law.”

“The Penobscot Nation is very thankful for the inclusion of the Maine Tribes in the Violence Against Women Act, which was included in the omnibus appropriations bill for FY2022,” said Chief Kirk Francis of the Penobscot Nation. “For years, Native women living within the Wabanaki Territories in Maine have lacked access to the same protections and resources that exist in the rest of Indian Country. The Penobscot Nation’s law enforcement and court systems are capable of implementing the criminal jurisdiction provisions within VAWA, but have just been left out of the underlying law. This error has finally been corrected, and we will now be able to use all the resources available to protect Native women, children and public safety officers located on our lands. Thank you to Representative Pingree for standing with us on this issue, and thank you to the rest of the Maine congressional delegation for supporting this historic fix.”

The landmark Violence Against Women Act of 1994 ushered in transformative progress by calling for the protection of all Americans from violence and abuse, and working to ensure survivors had access to essential support services and recourse through the courts. This has included efforts to expand the criminal jurisdiction of tribal courts over cases involving Native people and lands. However, the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act has been interpreted to block Maine Tribes from benefitting from this expanded jurisdiction. With the changes included in this week’s legislation, Maine’s Tribes will finally now have jurisdiction over domestic violence, sexual assault, and related cases involving their citizens and their lands. This will improve public safety for all of those living on tribal lands, enhance community conversations about domestic violence, and improve collaboration among Tribes and local and state public safety efforts.

Pingree, a member of the House Appropriations Committee who helped pass the government funding package on Wednesday, has been working for years to get this language included in the VAWA. In 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1620, which reauthorized the VAWA and extended protections to Maine Tribal women, but was not taken up in the Senate. 

National surveys have shown that Native American women are twice as likely to have been victims of rape or sexual assault and roughly two-thirds of the perpetrators of these crimes were not Native Americans. Native women are also significantly more likely to have been stalked and assaulted.

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