[4] The Maine Indian Newsletter originated during the Red Power movement, a period in the 60s and 70s of reinvigorated Native American political effort to mobilize their communities into action against the perceived wrongs against their sovereignty by state and federal governments, dating back to initial European colonization.
[6] Many native peoples resented white mainstream accounts of recent events in the early 70s like the Wounded Knee incident, which they argued unfairly represented American Indians.
Two years after the final publication of Maine Indian Newsletter, the courts reached their verdict in favor of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes.
The style and format of the newsletter was similar to many American Indian independent publications at the time: short, monthly tabloids produced inexpensively by a small staff that resembled “in formal and technical quality many small-town weeklies”.
Content ranged from local Indian Island reservation news, such as births, deaths, and tribal government meeting minutes, to national events and legislation pertinent to Native Americans.
Articles, especially those in the earlier publications, were often recycled stories about serious issues from other Indian and non-Indian newspapers across the state and nation, such as Bangor Daily News and Navajo Times.