Nancy Garland, BDN Staff Friday, July 26, 2002
Argyle eyed for
Indian housing
Penobscot
Nation seeks land solution
INDIAN ISLAND — Fred Nicola has spent most of his 79 years on Indian Island. The house in which he lives was passed down through the family from his Penobscot Indian grandmother. A basket maker by trade, Nicola is concerned that younger tribe members will never experience the housing security he has known.
“My family has always had a home. My relatives saw to that down through the generations. But now things are beginning to shorten up on the Island and that’s when people start to worry,” said Nicola, whose younger son lives with him.
A shortage of land for subsidized housing has tribal leaders searching for creative solutions. Indian Island has 84 subsidized housing units, which have been full for years. At the same time, the population is increasing on the Island as more tribal members seek to find housing there. Thirty families are on a waiting list for subsidized housing, and the number is growing.
The housing crunch on Indian Island has sent leaders of the Penobscot Nation looking elsewhere for solutions. Recently, the tribe voted to pursue acquiring land in Argyle, an unorganized territory that lies seven miles north of Indian Island.
Through terms in the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, the tribe has the right to expand its territory by simply approaching Argyle administrators with an offer to buy. Then Argyle’s registered voters would have to approve the offer.
It could not be determined Thursday whether an official offer has been made. According to the state Attorney General’s Office, no one has notified it of such an offer. Neither has a notice of purchase been filed with the Penobscot County Registry of Deeds.
Even if a land purchase goes through, the tribe can’t start building homes in Argyle until it can build and finance an infrastructure, such as roads and a sewer system, and provide personnel necessary to maintain them.
The tribe doesn’t collect taxes, which means its leaders must find other sources of revenue for roads and sewers.
The housing crunch is typical of a national trend where subsidized housing shortages are up by as much as 21 percent on Indian reservations. According to the latest U.S. Census, Indian Island’s population grew by 18 percent between 1990 and 2000, but the number of subsidized housing units stayed the same during that time. The increase of 86 people may not seem serious but poses a problem in an area with no room or money to expand.
The overcrowding on Indian Island is becoming visible. Houses sit at odd angles to match lot sizes, and many existing homes need more storage space. It would take about 70 new homes to ease the space crunch, according to a tribal housing official.
A lack of money to build an infrastructure is one of the key reasons the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes have been lobbying for a casino in southern Maine, according to tribal officials. But the idea of a casino doesn’t appear headed for immediate approval so other revenue sources must be generated.
The Penobscots are considering developing a wind-generated electricity company. They also are considering a bottled-water business, according to the Penobscot Nation Web site. But revenues from these activities are still several years away.
Penobscot Chief Barry Dana said in a recent speech that Indian per capita income is 28 percent lower than non-Indians’, and unemployment is 10 times higher. Yet the goal is to raise housing standards to the middle-class level on Indian Island.