Indian tribes call for sovereignty

INDIAN ISLAND, Maine, June 28 (UPI) -- Tribal leaders in New England adopted a resolution this week at a conference in Maine that maintains Indians have the right to govern themselves.

Leaders from Canada also attended the conference and approved the resolution, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The Wabanaki Confederacy Conference also included discussions of the environment and rights to traditional hunting.

Kirk Francis, chief of the Penobscot Nation, said the tribes found they have many problems in common. They plan to send the resolution on indigenous sovereignty to the United Nations, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Canadian government.

The Penobscots are upset because Maine Gov. John Baldacci vetoed a bill that would have allowed the tribe to add slot machines to its high-stakes bingo hall on Indian Island.

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