19th Century Views of Wabanaki Sovereignty

As described in Section 2, the Supreme Court qualified Indian sovereignty in an 1831 decision.  Chief Justice John Marshall called Native American tribes "domestic dependent nations."   He held that they retain all of their sovereign powers except those specifically taken from them by Congress.  His ruling also gave birth of the trust relationship between the federal government and the Indians. 

The thirteen original states had always claimed exclusive jurisdiction over the Native Peoples who lived within their borders.  Thus, the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy People had signed treaties with Massachusetts and Maine, but not with the federal government.   They were thought to be "state Indians" living on "state reservations."  Similarly, the Micmac and Maliseet People were called "state Indians", even though they had no reservations and no treaties involving land in Maine.
 Thus, Indians in Maine were considered to have no inherent sovereignty and no right of self-government.  They were excluded from the trust relationship and were not eligible for federal programs designed for Indians. 

In Maine, the State Legislature assumed the authority to make whatever decisions it thought necessary at any given time.  State courts also fostered this attitude.   In 1842, the highest court of Maine stated that "... imbecility on their [the Indians'] part, and the dictates of humanity on ours, have necessarily prescribed to them their subjection to our paternal control, in disregard of some . abstract principles of the rights of man."