he 1790 Trade and Intercourse Act of Congress. This stipulated that no sale of Indian land was valid without authority of the federal government. In 1975, Justice Grignours decided the matter in Federal District Court. He said the Passamaquoddy were entitled to protection under the Trade and Intercourse Act and the federal government would have to sue the state of Maine for taking Passamaquoddy land. This caused quite an uproar. Maine politicians publicly fostered a hostile anti-Indian sentiment. The state of Maine claimed that it had jurisdiction over Maine Indians, and they were not entitled to any federal Indian benefits. The Carter administration entered the scene as mediator (Baussenron 39). A settlement was reached in 1980, which stipulated that the Passamaquoddy Tribe's claims of original Indian title to 12.5 million acres of land in Maine be extinguished in return for $81.5 million for Maine Indians. The Passamaquoddy Tribe received $26.8 to buy 150,000 acres of land in Maine and $13.5 million to be held in trust by the federal government with its interest distributed to each member. In addition, the Passamaquoddy Indians would be eligible for all federal Indian benefits, and the tribe had the right to govern itself. The Maine tribes built into the settlement the right to buy 300,000 acres of timberland and crafted a diversified investment strategy. "Their goal was to use the land-claims money to solve unemployment, create more wealth, and raise their status in the community," said Thomas N. Tureen. In 1982 the Passamaquoddy bought one of the state's largest blueberry farms and two radio stations, and in 1983 the Dragon Cement Plant, which at the time was losing money. Under the tribe's ownership it not only became profitable but also originated a patented pollution-control system that could help resolve the acid-rain crisis (Waldman 1).The tribe sold the cement plant five years later for more than triple the purcha...
