‘I also am a firm supporter of any legislation on the federal level that begins to give more, frankly, land back to the indigenous peoples,’ Platner says
Senate candidate Graham Platner (D., Maine) called to return land to natives in the state he’s running to represent, arguing that longstanding injustices committed by state and federal governments remain unresolved.
“I, for one, am a firm supporter in any legislation that increases tribal sovereignty for the indigenous population in Maine,” Platner said Monday during a virtual town hall. “I also am a firm supporter of any legislation on the federal level that begins to give more, frankly, land back to the indigenous peoples that was taken from them, and there are a few mechanisms of doing this.”
“Tribal sovereignty, quite frankly, is a foundation of my politics,” he added. “I don’t think we get to have a future full of justice, dignity, and peace, but we don’t right the injustices of the past.”
There are roughly 10,000 indigenous people living in Maine—the 10th smallest population in the United States, according Census data in 2021.
So-called land-back advocates typically call for returning public lands, specifically, to natives. In March, the Atlantic published an essay by a ranger and native who argued that “tribal members from all nations” should join together and sue the government “for treaty violations—and settle for the return of federal lands.” He said it would “be good for every American.”
Federal legislation has also been introduced to take aim at the issue. On Monday, in fact, the Senate passed a bill that would pay a Michigan tribe $34 million to settle 150-year-old land claims, though it does not give the tribe land directly. The same bill passed the Senate in 2023, but stalled in the House.
Later in the event, Platner praised Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), who famously applied for jobs claiming to be indigenous, even though it turned out she was only between 1.5 and .097 percent Native American.
Platner’s pledge is a new position for the self-described working-class Mainer and the son of a wealthy and world-famous architect, adding to a laundry list of provocative statements he’s made from the campaign trail.
In November, Platner urged his supporters to publicly harass members of Maine’s congressional delegation who oppose Medicare for All. “Frankly, I want people to follow them around and don’t let them have a public dinner without getting yelled at,” Platner said during a town hall. “Because that’s power. That’s real power.”
At the same campaign stop, he called to abolish ICE and force agents to testify before Congress. He added that Google and Palantir “wouldn’t exist” if he had his way, demanding that such companies should be broken up.
Earlier that month, Platner expressed his support for stacking the Supreme Court and impeaching “at least two” of its sitting justices.
“We’re going to have to start treating the Supreme Court like the political action wing that it has become of conservatism,” he said. “It is not functioning as a constitutional body.”
Platner has repeatedly said that billionaires should go “extinct” and has consistently portrayed himself as “working class”—even though he enjoyed a comfortable upbringing and attended an elite boarding school.
Platner’s campaign hit a rocky start after Reddit posts surfaced showing him calling white rural people racist and stupid, describing himself as a communist, and promoting violence against people he considers fascists. They’ve proven to be a consistent challenge for Platner—a November poll found that Mainers flocked to his Republican opponent, Sen. Susan Collins, after reading his Reddit posts.
Days after the survey was published, a sexual assault survivor confronted Platner, asking him to show “true remorse” rather than “shallow words.”
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