The role of tribal representative in the Maine State Legislature is a non-voting position, though the representative can introduce and sponsor legislation. Three tribal representative seats are allocated in the Maine Legislature — for the Penobscot Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians — though only one seat is currently filled. Of all 50 states, the Tribal Representative exists exclusively in Maine.
The Tribal Representative to the Maine State Legislature, chosen from a combined Tribal Census pool, serves a four-year term (unlike two-year terms for other elected legislators) with candidate availability alternating between the Sipayik and Motahkomikuk Reservations.
CURRENT REPRESENTATIVE:
Aaron Dana, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Indian Township. Rep. Dana has served in the state legislature since October 2022. He will serve in this role through Sept. 2026.
Rep. Dana is the manager of the Passamaquoddy Recreation Center as well as a singer and dancer at The Professional Pow Wow Association. He is a former fitness coordinator and youth resource coordinator at the Passamaquoddy Health Center.
Rep. Dana serves on the judiciary committee which covers the judicial system organization and budget; criminal procedure; civil procedure; civil actions, including torts and medical malpractice; Maine Tort Claims Act; liability; immunity; claims against the State; child protection (with Health and Human Services); Family Law Advisory Commission; family law; domestic relations; child support; adoption; legal services; Maine Indigent Legal Services Commission; attorneys; Attorney General; District Attorneys; constitutional rights; abortion regulation and reproductive rights; civil rights; involuntary commitment and treatment; medical rights; human rights and discrimination; Maine Human Rights Commission; protection from harassment; protection from abuse; guardianship and conservatorship; probate law; Probate and Trust Law Advisory Commission, Probate Code; Trust Code; foreclosure; property law; property rights; eminent domain; unclaimed property; business and nonprofit organizations; Uniform Commercial Code; laws relating to Maine’s Indian Tribes, including the Act to Implement the Maine Indian Claims Settlement; Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission; freedom of access, confidentiality and privacy laws; statutory maintenance; and errors and inconsistencies.
Information for this lawmaker’s biography has been compiled from numerous public sources, including pages maintained by political parties, individual lawmakers and the Maine Legislature.
Contact this lawmaker: Aaron.Dana@legislative.maine.gov or 207-214-8345
LEGISLATIVE WORK:
The following chart is a compilation of legislation sponsored by Rep. Dana during the 131st Legislature. To learn more about each legislation and see where it is in the legislative process, click on the bill ID in the first column.
For those viewing this page on mobile, you can view more columns by scrolling left-to-right through the embedded table. That same material is available by clicking the Bill ID.
AI Disclosure: The bill summaries appearing below have been generated by Claude Haiku, an Artificial Intelligence model from Anthropic, which describes itself as an AI safety and research company. BillTrack50, which has compiled the summaries, has extensively tested the accuracy of the information but does not guarantee that every summary is completely accurate and comprehensive. You should always read and rely on the bill text that is provided by the Maine Legislature, which is accessible by clicking on the Bill ID in the table. (A button to flag AI-generated errors to the BillTrack50 team is available on each bill page.) We encourage readers to view our ethics policy, which includes our policy on the newsroom’s use of AI.
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