Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) is demanding answers and accountabiity following the reported mistreatment of David Slagger — a disabled US veteram. Wabamako elder and former member of the Maine State Legislature — at a Maine-Canada border crossing.  Slagger, whom Pingree has personally spoken to about the incident, said he was detained by CBP officers, denied access to insulin for his Type 1 diabetes and forced to witness his ceremonial drum and feathers being handled disrespectfully by agents according to a press release issues this morning from Congresswoman Chelli Pingree’s office.

“In addition to endangering his health and demeaning his cultural identity, these actions raise serious concerns about whether CBP agents are properly following the treaty obligations of the United States — and respecting the rights of the Indigenous peoples who have lived on this land since long before our Northern Border was drawn,” Pingree said in a letter to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott.

Pingree emphasized that the Jay Treaty of 1794 guarantees Native peoples the right to freely cross the US-Canada border and that the Constitution requires federal officials to uphold treaty rights as the law of the land.

“Yet, Mr. Slagger’s experience suggests that CBP officers either lack adequte training on these rights or are willfully disregarding them.  This is unacceptable,” Pingree said.  “Treaty rights are not optional; they are the law of the land under Article VI of the Constitution and CBP has a legal and moral duty to honor them.”