Mashpee Wampanoag/Genting Tribe Faces Changes

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Tribe faces change at top

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

February 17, 2013

 

MASHPEE — Votes cast in next Sunday's Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe election could send one of two messages — tribe members want to blaze the same trail for the next four years or shake things up dramatically.

 

All four top officers on the 11-member tribal council, including the chairman and the vice chairman, are on Sunday's ballot, and there are contested races for all five seats. In all, 17 tribe members are running for chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, secretary and an at-large tribal council post.

CHAIRMAN CANDIDATES

Cedric Cromwell

Age: 47

Lives in Attleboro

Employment: Worked for Fidelity Investments before becoming tribe chairman

Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Previous tribal council experience: Served on council for six years before being elected chairman

 

David Pocknett

Age: 59

Lives in Mashpee

Employment: Maintenance worker for town of Mashpee

Education: Attended University of Southern Colorado; bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Previous tribal council experience: Served as vice chairman from 2007-09

 

Richard Oakley

Age: 60

Lives in Wareham

Employment: Retired DPW worker for town of Mashpee

Education: Barnstable High School

Previous tribal council experience: Served for 13 years ending in 2009

Read Times coverage at capecodonline.com/casino.

 

The election at Mashpee High School starts at 1 p.m. with elders only for the first hour. From 2 to 4 p.m., polls open at the high school for the rest of the tribe's eligible voters.

 

It was delayed for two weeks by a February nor'easter that shut down much of the Cape for several days.

 

Several tribe members reached by the Times declined to comment on the record, though one said this is a "tough election" and has caused divisiveness among members that makes it hard to declare allegiances publicly.

 

Tribe member Paula Peters, whose husband Mark Harding is running for re-election as treasurer, disabled her Facebook page in recent days because she is tired of the "scrapping" between tribe members, many of them family. "No one has said anything personally about me or my husband, but it's the way the community is acting right now that's put me off," said Peters, who is a former columnist for the Times.

 

Still, Peters said she's proud and impressed by the sheer number of people willing to run in the election. Having been kept out of a race for chairman against Glenn Marshall in 2005 because she couldn't show she had attended the minimum number of tribal council meetings in a year (records were unavailable for some of those meetings), Peters said the number of candidates this year is a sign that the tribe has come a long way.

 

"People are jumping up and saying, 'I want to serve my tribe.' I'm proud of all of them," Peters said.

 

"The idea that 17 people got up on stage and talked from the heart about why they want to run for office for the tribe is impressive. It's a really challenging time. That's a huge commitment."

Cedric Cromwell, who has led the tribe since 2009, faces challenges from David Pocknett and Richard Oakley for tribal council chairman.

 

Cromwell, 47, has campaigned on a platform of continuing to move the tribe forward. He took over amid a leadership scandal and switched gears from the tribe's $1 billion casino in Middleboro. After starts and stops in Fall River, Cromwell has an approved deal to build a $500 million casino in Taunton.

 

 

Cromwell, a former employee of Fidelity Investments who lives in Attleboro, is currently in talks with Gov. Deval Patrick to renegotiate a tribal-state compact after the initial deal was rejected by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. He is also attempting to guide the tribe's application to have land taken into federal trust for an initial reservation through the federal process.

 

"It's been a renaissance time for our tribe," Cromwell said, noting strides made in grant funding, as well as health and human services. "The word I'm hearing from tribe members is we can't have change at this time, especially with so many positive things happening. Any change would be a negative to our tribe."

 

A leadership change would affect the tribe's relationship with the governor's office, the BIA, Taunton and other leaders at a critical time for the casino project, he said. "Why mess with success?" he said.

 

"Our tribe is very successful right now."

 

Incumbents always believe that it's never a good time to change leaders, Pocknett said.

Pocknett, 59, served as vice chairman leading up to the 2009 election, having defeated Cromwell and two other candidates in a 2007 special election. He was not part of Marshall's administration, but was elected after Marshall's right-hand man Shawn Hendricks moved up to the top job.

Hendricks and Pocknett did not seek re-election in 2009.

 

 

Pocknett, a maintenance worker for the town of Mashpee who lives in the town, said while he is supportive of the Middleboro casino, he's not running to stop the process that's in place for a Taunton casino. "My message is that we can't keep jumping around. We have to stay the course but try to right the ship," Pocknett said.

 

Pocknett said it's a hugely important election. "Every (election) is an important one," he said. "This one, because it happens every four years, is the most important because it's the top brass."

 

Oakley, 60, a retired employee of the Mashpee Department of Public Works and a resident of Wareham, has been more vocal about the decision of the Cromwell administration to abandon Middleboro and its initial investors. "We had a good relationship with the people we were negotiating with in Middleboro," he said last month. "Financially, and everything else, Middleboro was the best option for the tribe to have a casino."

 

Oakley did not return calls for this story, but in a previous interview said he is hoping to bring unity to the tribe. "I don't want to be a disruptive force," he said. "Win, lose or draw, I'm hoping whoever is in office can bring our tribe together and help us become a self-sufficient tribe."

 

Cromwell said the number of candidates running for office should not be seen as a sign of unrest throughout the 2,600 members of the tribe. "Anyone has a right to run for office. I understand that, I get that, and I support that," he said. "I think it's special that everyone gets their opinions, ideas, thoughts and rights"» We're moving forward together."

 

Vice Chairman Aaron Tobey, a former employee of the U.S. Postal Service, faces a challenge by Jessie "Little Doe" Baird, who is director of a program aimed at reclaiming the tribe's native language.

 

Both have worked on the tribe's casino plans — Tobey as a chief negotiator of the tribal-state compact and Baird in helping to tell the history of the tribe's ties to Taunton in a key document under consideration by the BIA.

 

Meanwhile, Harding faces three challengers for treasurer — Robert Hendricks, Diane Johnson and Angela Shwom.

 

Marie Stone, the tribal council secretary, is running against Nellie Ramos, Michelle Hughes-Fernandes, Suzette Spinola, and Michelle "Shellie" Tobey.

 

Council member Selena Jonas is being challenged by two candidates, Charles Foster III and Joanne Peters.

 

Jim Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag member and chairman of the state's Commission on Indian Affairs, said next Sunday's vote is critical.

 

"I do get concerned that elections are sometimes based on popularity rather than looking at the bigger picture," he said. "Significant changes in makeup would have a real impact on where we are trying to go."

 

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130217/NEWS/302170340/-1/NEWSLETTER100

 

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe lacks ties to gaming site

Letter: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe lacks ties to gaming site

Monday, February 11, 2013

I take exception, both professionally and personally, to some of the comments made in the recent article referring to my work ("Mashpee Wampanoag's historic ties challenged by some," Jan. 31). Reporter George Brennan utilizes half-truths and unidentified sources to discredit me. At the same time, he does not appear to have a clear grasp of the issues at hand regarding the Mashpee land-into-trust issue.

It is no secret that my research has been performed in opposition to the Mashpee's efforts to gain lands in Southeastern Massachusetts. I do so pro bono on the behalf of the Massachusetts-recognized Pocasset band of the historic Pokanoket tribe. The Pocasset and their descendants have possessed the so-called Fall River/Watuppa Indian reservation since the lands were set aside for them in 1704 by order of the governor of Massachusetts and colonial General Court. The colony did so as an expression of its recognition of and gratitude for their military service in aiding the colony in its time of need during King Philip's War (1675). At least two of the current Pocasset descent lines go back to the original 1704 occupants of the Fall River-Watuppa Reservation."

Get the Story:
James P. Lynch: Reporting on Mashpee tribe story was lacking (The New Bedford Standard-Times 2/11)

http://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2013/025940.asp

More Mashpee Wampanoag Fantasies

Ruling backs Mashpee tribe's land claims

Tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell, left, and chief Vernon Lopez chat with guests as members
of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe hosted an open house last May for residents of Taunton
at the high school to showcase the tribe's plans for a casino in the town.
Cape Cod Times File/Steve Heaslip

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

February 13, 2013

 

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's application to have 146 acres taken into federal trust in Taunton for an Indian casino can move forward under a ruling by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

 

The decision does not completely clear the path for the tribe's proposed $500 million casino, but it does eliminate a significant hurdle.

 

In a letter to the tribe dated Feb. 7, Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn wrote that a "preliminary advisory opinion" indicates the Taunton land and 170 acres in Mashpee qualify as an initial reservation. The exemption is part of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that would allow the tribe to offer gambling on the land if other criteria are met.

 

In a press release, tribal council Chairman Cedric Cromwell called the letter "another huge step forward toward the development of a first-class destination resort casino in Taunton."

Cromwell praised the speed of the review process.

 

"They truly understand how important it is for our people to have land, to maintain our history, our language and our culture. This will enable us to fully operate as a sovereign tribal government, to secure the resources necessary to support ourselves, and to provide services such as housing, health care and education to our people," he said.

 

The ruling is evidence that the BIA is convinced the tribe has "significant historic and modern ties" to the land.

 

"It further demonstrates an Interior Department that is more willing to move quickly and definitively on these types of determinations," Steven Light, an Indian gaming expert at the University of North Dakota, said. "Put this federal action together with the groundwork the tribe has laid — land option, local political support, conversations with the state, application for land into trust — and the trajectory points toward success for the Mashpee."

 

It's also significant because, if the application is approved completely, it gives the tribe authority to offer Class II gaming — bingo and so-called bingo slots — on the land with or without state approval. With a compact between the tribe and state, the Mashpee Wampanoag would be entitled to offer Class III gambling, which includes slots and table games like blackjack.

 

A historian hired by the tribe, along with two tribe members, filed a report outlining the ties to land in Taunton. In essence, the document makes the case that the Mashpee Wampanoag is the only remaining mainland tribe of what was once the Pokanoket Nation. The Pokanoket homeland stretched from Rhode Island, east to the Cape and Islands and north to Gloucester covering all of Southeastern Massachusetts.

 

Cohannut, which encompasses modern Taunton, Lakeville, Middleboro and Bridgewater, was an important "resource rich" area used by the Wampanoag for hunting, gathering and planting before English settlers took over the region, according to the tribe's historical account. After the bloody and deadly King Philip's War in 1675 and 1676, the Mashpee tribe, which stayed neutral, took in surviving Indians who weren't sold off as slaves, according to the report.

 

The Mashpee tribe's claims to the land are disputed by state-recognized tribes and will likely be challenged in court, but the BIA's approval is a significant step for the Mashpee Wampanoag — one that critics have said they doubted would ever happen.

 

Next, the tribe must convince the BIA that a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, known as the Carcieri decision, does not apply to them, Light said. That ruling called into question the federal government's authority to take land in trust for tribes recognized after 1934, the year of the Indian Reorganization Act, but left open the door that tribes might be able to show they were under federal jurisdiction.

That's one of several "big hurdles" remaining for the tribe, Light said.

 

Though the tribe was not federally recognized until 2007, it has made a legal argument that, among other things, an agreement with King George III to protect Mashpee Indian land should have been enforced by the United States.

 

The BIA has yet to rule on whether Carcieri applies, but in a similar case the Cowlitz Tribe in Washington State was recently found to be under federal jurisdiction and its land was taken into trust.

 

That decision was challenged immediately and the ongoing lawsuit is being watched closely by the Mashpee tribe and others across the country.

 

An environmental review must also be completed by the Mashpee Wampanoag before the BIA makes its final decision on the tribe's land application.

 

KG Urban Enterprises, a developer that hopes to build a commercial casino in New Bedford, declined to comment on the BIA letter.

 

Elaine Driscoll, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said the BIA's action is one of several factors the commission will take into effect when it makes a decision next month whether to open Southeastern Massachusetts to commercial bids.

 

Meanwhile, negotiations continue between the tribe and Gov. Deval Patrick to renegotiate a compact that was rejected by the BIA.

 

"We remain focused on reaching an agreement that is fair to the commonwealth and the tribe," said Jason Lefferts, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130213/NEWS/302130316/-1/NEWSLETTER100

Gettin' Mighty Deep!

Mashpee Wampanoag's historic ties chided by some

January 31, 2013

 

By GEORGE BRENNAN

 

Reaction to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's claims of significant historic ties to Taunton was swift and in some cases predictable.

 

"Put your full waders on. It's starting to get deep," Middleboro Selectman Allin Frawley, a casino opponent, posted on his Facebook wall linking to a Sunday Cape Cod Times story reporting the claims.

 

The Times obtained copies of two widely anticipated reports contained within the tribe's application to have 146 acres in Taunton and 170 acres in Mashpee taken into trust by the Department of the Interior.

 

One report claims historic and modern ties to Cohannut, which encompasses modern-day Taunton, as part of the larger Pokanoket tribe. The other, prepared by tribe lawyers, attempts to demonstrate the Mashpee tribe was always under federal jurisdiction so a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, known as the Carcieri decision, would not prevent the tribe from getting land.

 

Documentation included in the reports has never been used previously either in the tribe's pursuit of federal recognition or in its aborted attempt to get land into trust for the casino it proposed for Middleboro, she said.

 

"I don't know anyone in the United States named King George," she said, a reference to the tribe's report that it had an agreement — equivalent to a treaty — with the British crown in 1763 protecting Mashpee land from English settlers. The report argues the deal should have been enforced by the United States, which is responsible for any treaties for sovereign land it takes over.

James Lynch, a Connecticut-based historian working on behalf of a state-recognized tribe known as the Pocasset, said the Mashpee tribe isn't connected to the Pokanoket, as it asserts. He says the Mashpee tribe was isolated to Cape Cod. He said there was no treaty and that the tribe's documented history shows that it was under state, not federal, control.

 

Lynch said he's not being paid by the Pocasset tribe, but does work on their behalf pro bono because he feels they are "getting screwed" by the Mashpee tribe and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) invading their turf.

 

It's the Pocasset, not the Mashpee or Aquinnah tribes, which is tied to the land in Southeastern Massachusetts from Cape Cod to Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, he said.

 

The Pocasset tribe filed a petition to become federally recognized two years ago, Lynch said.

 

The process took the Mashpee tribe 30 years to complete.

 

Last week, Lynch filed official opposition to the Mashpee application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, even though he's yet to see the actual report.

 

In the report he concludes Mashpee and the Aquinnah were compelled "to invent and embellish a past" to achieve "an economic agenda."

 

In its report claiming ties to Taunton, the Mashpee tribe attempts to deflect expected criticism by pointing out that the Pocasset have come alive only after the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act gave tribes the right to build casinos on tribal land. Mashpee's application to be recognized predated the casino law by 11 years.

 

"A newly-formed tribe (that is post-IGRA), calling themselves Pocasset, also claimed ownership of the Watuppa Wampanoag Indian Reservation," the tribe report states. "However, this group was and is not recognized by any existing historic Wampanoag tribes nor have they demonstrated any sustained control over the Watuppa Reserve."

 

It was Mashpee Wampanoag member Amelia Bingham and other "traditionally-minded Wampanoag" who opened the 277 acres known as the Watuppa Wampanoag Reservation within the Freetown-Fall River State Forest for ceremonial uses, the report asserts.

 

In an interview Tuesday, Lynch disagreed, saying a reservation was created in the early 1700s for the Pocasset.

 

"There was never a cessation of the reservation use," he said.

 

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation website makes no mention of a specific Wampanoag tribe. In 1976, Gov. Michael Dukakis signed an executive order strengthening control over the land by tribe members.

 

Lynch has written letters to the editor to the Times and other newspapers in Southeastern Massachusetts opposing the tribe. In 2009, he was hired for $5,000 by Halifax selectmen to disprove the Mashpee tribe's ties to Middleboro, where it planned to build a $1 billion casino.

 

Lynch has been described by tribes as a "hired gun," employed to poke holes in research done by tribes seeking federal recognition. In a lawsuit brought by New York against the Shinnecock tribe, his credentials were called into question because he lists himself as a "Ph.D (abd)" on his curriculum vitae, which means "all but dissertation." His work was called "slipshod" and "replete with errors," according to court documents filed in that Shinnecock case.

 

Lynch said it's "par for the course" for defense attorneys to pick apart expert witnesses. He said he did not complete his doctorate because of family issues, but doesn't think it's misleading to include the reference on his resume.

 

In a 2009 case involving the Unkechaug Nation in New York, a federal judge questioned Lynch's motivation.

 

"Mr. Lynch found adversely to the tribe's federal recognition in nine matters in which he was retained by clients opposing tribal recognition," the court document states. "In the one matter in which Mr. Lynch found in favor of federal tribal recognition, he was retained by a client that supported tribal recognition."

 

Lynch defended his work. "I don't invent the facts. The facts are there. My job is to find them and present them," he said.

 

It's unclear how much weight the Bureau of Indian Affairs will give to Lynch or any other comments opposed to the Mashpee tribe's claims. Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the bureau, had no immediate comment.

 

The Mashpee Wampanoag produced a letter earlier this month from the bureau that indicates a decision on whether to consider the tribe's application under the "initial reservation" designation is imminent. The bureau has also stated that it will act early this year on whether Carcieri affects the application, according to the letter.

 

In March, the state gaming commission will re-evaluate the tribe's progress clearing its federal hurdles. At that point, the commission could open up the Southeastern Massachusetts region — for which the Mashpee Wampanoag were given a first chance to build a casino — to commercial bidders.

 

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130131/NEWS/301310346

 

More Cedric Propaganda

Feds plan to take up review of Mashpee Wampanoag application this month

By Andy Metzger

State House News Service

Posted Jan 13, 2013

The federal government plans to take up the Mashpee Wampanoag’s land-in-trust application in the early part of 2013, according to a Dec. 31 letter, heartening tribal leaders’ belief that their quest for a casino permit is moving forward.

Federal approval of land-in-trust is a prerequisite for the tribe to build a casino in Taunton, and skepticism about the tribe’s ability to do so has fueled debate over the future of casino development in southeastern Massachusetts.

“This letter goes against everything else that everyone else has been saying. In fact this letter speaks to the truth in reality that the secretary of the Department of the Interior, through the assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, does have the ability, post-1934, to take land into trust for Indian sovereign tribes,” said Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the tribe. Some have argued that the tribe would have difficulty securing a reservation because it was not recognized by the federal government until 2007.

The application review would go through a number of stages, Cromwell said, and the letter indicates that the federal officials are setting out on the application process.

Some lawmakers have pushed for a deadline for the Mashpee to secure a land-in-trust agreement for the Taunton property where it hopes to build a resort casino.

“We have had this carve-out for tribal gaming, but quite frankly tribal gaming is something that is in trouble right now in Washington. What does that mean for Massachusetts? It means southeastern Massachusetts will be going without a casino for years,” Rep. Robert Koczera (D-New Bedford) told the News Service, when the Massachusetts Gaming Commission was considering opening southeastern Massachusetts to commercial casino developers.

The commission in December elected to wait until March 15 to decide on whether to open up a dual-track application process for commercial developers, and Cromwell said the Dec. 31 letter from Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn affirms the commission’s decision to give the tribe time.

Because of its recent recognition as a tribe, the Mashpee are pursuing a land agreement through an “initial reservation exception” to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Cromwell said the letter indicates federal officials will issue a decision in January 2013 on whether the initial reservation exception applies, and will decide on the federal office’s ability to approve land-in-trust in early 2013, which is “all leading up to that final decision.”

“After an initial review of the Tribe’s application and other applicable documents in the record, we will be directing the Eastern Regional Director to begin processing the Tribe’s application pursuant to this exception,” Washburn wrote.

The 2,600-member Mashpee Wampanoag tribe encompasses tribes who were present in the region at the time of the Pilgrims arrival in Plymouth, and the government’s decision to move ahead with the tribe’s application for a reservation was moving, beyond its implications for a future casino, Cromwell said.

“Being a Native American, we are land and land is us. And that’s a deep, deep spiritual connection that seven generations before me and seven generations to come will always have, knowing that we were the first Americans, knowing that this was our homeland and it was all taken from us,” Cromwell said. “And we come full circle 400 years later, on the cusp of getting homelands back.”

Another requisite for a MGC license is a valid compact between the tribe and the state, which needs approval from Gov. Deval Patrick, the Legislature and the federal government. The BIA rejected an earlier compact because the state’s 21.5 percent share of the tribe’s gaming revenue was deemed too high and the state was offering concessions, such as hunting and fishing rights, that were beyond the scope of concessions that state had the ability to give.

“While we, the tribe and the state, felt good about it, from a national policy perspective, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has a regulatory structure and policy structure that they had to follow. The good news is that we, the tribe and the governor’s people are back at the table, renegotiating a compact,” Cromwell said about those negotiations.

Asked if the new compact would be more favorable to the tribe in order to pass federal muster, Cromwell said, “We’re looking at national policy, what the BIA has approved. We’re looking at where we’re at with gaming in the Commonwealth. We’re looking at the meaningful concessions that we can support to get to a revenue-share level that can be supported at a national level at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and obviously supported at the Legislature-level at the Commonwealth, and also at my tribal council level.”

Federal approval of land-in-trust would give the tribe the ability to build a casino even if the MGC does not select the Mashpee as the recipient of the casino license designated for southeastern Massachusetts.

“Once we have land into trust as a federal sovereign Indian tribe, which we are, we can go ahead and proceed forward with expanded gaming construction and moving towards opening the doors,” Cromwell said. He said, “The key to the compact is that it builds a relationship between the Commonwealth and the tribe for revenue sharing, and the value of the meaningful concession being exclusivity, and that’s what the compact provides.”


Read more: Feds plan to take up review of Mashpee Wampanoag application this month - - The Bourne Courier http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/newsnow/x1233667400/Feds-plan-to-take-up-review-of-Mashpee-Wampanoag-application-this-month#ixzz2Hxa83s9E

Mashpee Wampanoag: Ayup!

Feds Promise Prompt Review Of Mashpee Tribe's Reservation Application

By: Geoff Spillane
Published: 01/13/13

The status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's application to create a reservation in Mashpee and Taunton, where the tribe has proposed $500 million destination resort casino, is no longer a mystery.

The United States Department of the Interior notified the tribe in writing that it is moving forward on the land-into-trust application, for the first time attaching a timeline for the completion of significant milestones associated with processing the request.

Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell informed tribe members at a meeting today at Mashpee High School. The December 31 letter was released to the media shortly thereafter.

By month's end, the tribe will know whether its application will be allowed under what is known as the initial reservation exception, a section of the Indian Regulatory Gaming Act created to assist newly recognized, landless tribes such as the Mashpee, according to a letter sent by US Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn to Mr. Cromwell. Gaming by tribes is technically forbidden, unless they can prove they fall under one of several exceptions to the ban, such as the initial reservation exception. Without qualifying under the exception, the tribe will likely not be able to open a casino.

Mr. Washburn also wrote that the agency will make a decision "in early 2013" regarding its authority to acquire land in trust for the tribe, taking into account the US Supreme Court's 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar decision.

“The schedule outlined by Assistant Secretary Washburn means that our land in trust application is a priority. We appreciate this very strong commitment from the Obama Administration and the active support of Governor Patrick and our congressional delegation,” Mr. Cromwell stated in a news release issued late this afternoon.

Having land in trust is a critical element required for the tribe to move forward with plans to build a casino in Taunton. Lack of information regarding the duration of the application process has generated concern among state legislators, rival commercial casino operators, and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. The tribe has faced concern that a lengthy, open ended process could leave Southeastern Massachusetts at a significant economic disadvantage, if gaming licenses are issued in the Greater Boston and Western Massachusetts regions while the tribe's land status remained in limbo.

News of the forward momentum on the land-in-trust application comes as tribe enters a critical 60-day period during which the future of its leadership and casino-based economic development initiative will be determined.

The tribe will hold elections for five council seats, including chairman, vicechairman, treasurer, and secretary, on Sunday, February 10, while in mid-March the Massachusetts Gaming Commission will determine how it will proceed with issuing a gaming license in Southeastern Massachusetts. Last month, the commission voted to delay a discussion of the matter for 90 days until it could procure additional information regarding the tribe's progress with its land-into-trust application, and renegotiated compact with Governor Deval L. Patrick.

http://www.capenews.net/communities/mashpee/news/2327

Fight to protect the SouthCoast's interests continues

GUEST OPINION: Fight to protect the SouthCoast's interests continues
By Brian Kennedy

Posted Jul 10, 2012

On June 9, Taunton voted for a tribal resort destination casino in the hope of jobs and economic development. This is perfectly understandable after years of stagnation and a continuous reduction in local aid from the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Promises of 1,000 construction jobs, 2,500 permanent jobs, $33 million in infrastructure improvements along with $1.5 million up front and $8 million per year sound good, but alone provide incomplete analysis. It’s now time for Taunton to look soberly at the agreement and find the best way forward.

The Inter-governmental Agreement Taunton has signed with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe presents serious long-term solvency issues for the city, as well as immense land use issues. We respect the vote of the city; our goal now is to avoid suffering the worst of a poorly constructed contract, and there are ways you can help. The effort is not anti-casino; it’s against an arrangement that, if left unaltered, will eventually do great harm to the city and surrounding communities.

Most important are the threats to Taunton’s long-term solvency. The IGA caps the property taxes of the tribe after the eleventh anniversary of their obtaining land in trust. In the intervening 10 years they do have a CPI increase of 3 percent, compared to the 2.5 percent the rest of Taunton will pay provided there is no Prop 2½ override. Second, the 8 million dollar minimum payment out of net slot revenues from the tribe is not indexed to CPI or inflation, meaning 30 or 50 years out, the tribe will still be paying the same amount to the city as they would be paying in the 11th year.

CPI and inflation will make the relative value of these fixed payments decrease to nothingness over time. Finally, the tribe has the option to annex adjacent lands without renegotiating the IGA, provided those lands are not used for gaming. It is unclear whether newly annexed land starts a new ten year property tax cycle or is grandfathered into the fixed payment on land in trust after the eleventh year. Eventually this creates a fiscal sinkhole for the city, and resultantly the state, as it is unreasonable to expect the tribe will not grow, nor will they negotiate away their favored tax status – they will simply expand their non-gaming revenue streams, streams the city cannot access.

Additional environmental concerns include water usage rights, to which the Tribe has absolute first priority. The land is situated over a crucial section of the Cotley and Taunton rivers, which run under the property and affect the water supply out to Berkley, Lakeville, Middleboro, the Bridgewaters and Brockton at minimum. The land the tribe proposes to put 12-15 story hotels is also directly in the flight path to the Taunton airport, with no mitigation in place for the airport and no Federal Aviation Administration study on the impacts.

The same buildings will also be heavy enough to disrupt the water flow beneath them, and the whole area should be studied by the Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to these concerns. In regards to traffic, an additional 12,000 vehicles a day that will be clogging the roadways throughout East Taunton. The location also impacts all school schedules: Staggered bus and van routes for at least one elementary, middle and high school utilize Stevens Street and Route 140. Mitigation costs for low-income workers whose children will need additional resources from the schools is also inadequate — it is estimated to cost $890,000 per annum — $540,000 greater than the $360,000 per annum allocated towards schools in the IGA.

The only way to address these concerns now is to go beyond our city officials to state legislators and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The BIA held a scoping session on June 20 to hear environmental (defined as any concerns affecting the impacted community, not just landscape and wildlife) concerns. The concerns mentioned above were all registered, and additionally it was brought to the BIA’s attention by leaders of the Pokanoket tribe that the Mashpee tribe does not have proper historic ties to Taunton. 

George Rizer for the Boston Globe

Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson, vice chairman of the Pocasset Tribal Council, was among those who challenged Mashpee historical claims to the proposed casino site.


The Massachusett and Pocasset tribes — state-recognized tribes that have banded together to form the Affiliated Tribes — concurred. It was suggested by attorney Adam Bond that the BIA might be using our city as a test case to restore a power they lost in Carcieri v. Salazar (2009), which prevents tribes recognized by the federal government after 1934 from receiving land into trust.

The last vote left is the state compact with the governor. If the BIA cannot act to alleviate the concerns we have expressed, the only thing stopping Taunton from becoming ground zero for a fiscal and legal nightmare is instructing our state legislature to vote down the compact. No one wants to lose the opportunity for jobs, what we want is to ensure our city gets properly protected. The first thing you can do is write your legislators to inform them on these issues — and to vote down the state compact if they cannot be addressed. The BIA will also have continued chances for input.

StopTauntonCasino.com has additional info and sample letters to help you in contacting your legislators.

Ultimately, whether you look at, around, above, or below the proposed project there are a host of concerns that could not be covered in the two weeks from the release of the IGA to the June 9 vote.

Residents warned our councilors of many of these concerns, and six councilors voted for the IGA knowing they had no chance to amend it, per the city’s own legal consultant Mr. Cid Froelich. I reiterated this in my comments — in fact I said it was insane that our duly elected councilors could not amend the document before the referendum.

What bothers me most is that some city leaders repeated uncritically the viewpoint of one side — the side that dropped $300,000 on the city for the vote. We now see the result: A host of problems ranging from immediately identifiable long-term fiscal insolvency to potential FAA violations and water table disruption, to name only a few of the most pressing concerns. Unlike the concerns in the IGA, there is only one remedy for this leadership concern: The vote on Nov. 5, 2013. It’s on my calendar.

Brian Kennedy is a Taunton resident. He has been active in Preserve Taunton’s Future, studying the impacts of the proposed Taunton resort destination casino. He ran for School Committee in 2011.

Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/newsnow/x1425376991/GUEST-OPINION-Fight-to-protect-the-SouthCoasts-interests-continues#ixzz20GpS3xxr

 

Tribe's link to Taunton essential to casino deal

Tribe's link to Taunton essential to casino deal

 

The Old Colony Historical Society's collection includes copper and wampum beads used by tribe members for trading and for self-adornment.Cape Cod Times/Jim Preston

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

July 01, 2012

TAUNTON — Hostilities between English settlers and Native Americans came to a head in this city that now, 331 years later, is welcoming a tribal casino within its borders.

In 1671, commissioners of the Massachusetts Bay Colony invited Metacomet, also known as King Philip, the son of Massasoit and then leader of Wampanoag Nation, to Taunton for a meeting with English settlers, according to S.H. Emery's "History of Taunton Massachusetts: 1637-1893."

 

"Philip was willing to proceed to Taunton Green, then called the Training Field, if hostages were left. Williams and John Brown consented to remain," Emery wrote.

 

Inside an old meetinghouse, colonists stood on one side in "formal garbs, close shorn hair and solemn countenances," Emery wrote. On the other side "appeared the tawny and ferocious countenances of Indian warriors; their long, black hair hanging down their backs; their small sunken eyes, gleaming with serpent fires ..."

 

Philip was confronted about reports he was planning an attack on Taunton and other settlements. "He was covered with confusion and in his panic acknowledged the truth of all their charges," Emery wrote.

 

Philip surrendered his weapons, which included guns, and "signed his submission," but in the next four years continued to stockpile weapons for a battle that history now refers to as King Philip's War.

That history could prove important because to win federal approval of its proposed $500 million casino project in Taunton, the Mashpee Wampanoag must prove to the Bureau of Indian Affairs it has historic and cultural ties to Taunton.

 

The tribe is asking the federal government to take 146 acres in the Liberty and Union Industrial Park into federal trust, along with 170 acres in Mashpee, for the tribe's initial reservation.

Environmental review

The federal bureau started an environmental review of the land two weeks ago that is expected to take several months. Meanwhile, the tribe is negotiating a compact with Gov. Deval Patrick for payments in lieu of taxes. An announcement could come as early as this week as the tribe races to meet a July 31 deadline imposed by the state law that authorizes three casinos and a single slot parlor. The tribe's land into trust application does not have to be completed by that date.

 

In a May decision that demonstrates the importance of the historical ties, the bureau rejected the trust application of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians in California because it did not "demonstrate it had a significant historic connection to the site."

 

Making the link between Indians and Taunton is as easy as walking into the Old Colony Historical Society in the city, where volumes of books and records are preserved.

 

But making the connection between the Mashpee Wampanoag and the territory is not as clear, said William Hanna, a retired Taunton High School teacher and historian who authored "A History of Taunton, Massachusetts" in 2008.

 

Hanna spent hours sifting through records at the historic society where he says there is no reference in official records to specific Wampanoag tribes.

 

"Never, ever have I seen a distinction between the Mashpee Wampanoag, Aquinnah Wampanoag or other Wampanoag tribes," he said. "To say that the Mashpee Wampanoag have a historic tie to Taunton, nothing I see proves that."

 

Of course, nothing disproves it either, he said.

 

In his book, "The Wampanoag Indian Federation: Indian Neighbors to the Pilgrims," Milton A. Travers wrote about a Cohannet Wampanoag Tribe, which "occupied the territory including parts of the present towns of Berkley, Mansfield, Norton and Raynham, and also a portion within the present city limits of Taunton, Massachusetts."

 

The Cohannet are not among a list of state- and federally recognized tribes still in existence.

The Mashpee Wampanoag declined a request by the Times to release the documentation it presented as part of its application to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and instead issued a statement.

"There are strong ties to the region with excellent documentary support," tribal council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said. "Federal and state agencies acknowledge Mashpee connections to the archaeological record in the Taunton region. The preponderance of scholars who have written on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe sees our influence historically as extending into the Taunton area, and there is linguistic support for that argument, as well. Beyond this written evidence, we know of this connection through our oral history, passed down from generation to generation."

false claims?

Other Massachusetts tribes unhappy about the tribe's federal status are already attempting to poke holes in their historical data.

 

At a bureau hearing in Taunton last week, representatives of the Pocasset Wampanoag and the Massachusett tribe both testified the Mashpee have no historic links to Taunton.

 

Pocasset leader George Buffalo Spring rejected the Mashpee tribe's claims to Taunton land. "The Mashpee leadership disrespects our Pokanoket ancestors and our lands by improperly making false claims to reservation shop in Pocasset Pokanoket territories," he said.

 

But representatives of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the only other federally recognized tribe in Massachusetts, defended the Mashpee application, saying all of the Wampanoag Nation has ties to Southeastern Massachusetts.

 

Officials at the Robbins Museum in Middleboro, which is operated by the Massachusetts Archaeological Society and has an extensive collection of Wampanoag artifacts from the region, were reluctant to comment on the dispute except to say the region was a hotbed of Indian activity.

 

The Times requested the tribe's application and supporting documents in a Freedom of Information Act filing with the bureau. Thus far, the bureau has only released documents filed five years ago in support of taking 539 acres into trust in Middleboro, a proposal no longer on the table.

 

But as they did in Middleboro, tribe historians will likely point to the arrival of the Pilgrims and the "profound and enduring changes" that resulted in the past 400 years. According to the historical report drafted by Christine Grabowski for that 2007 application, "the contemporary Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe descends from a band of Indians that was part of the historic Pokanoket nation."

 

Pokanoket nation comprised a group of "allied sachemships," numbering more than 30, under the leadership of one Massasoit or supreme sachem, who when the Pilgrims landed was Ousamequin.

 

The various bands moved around to temporary settlements on a seasonal basis "rather than specific fixed land-holdings in the European fashion," Grabowski wrote.

PECK OF BEANS, JACKKNIFE

In his book "Mayflower," Nathaniel Philbrick writes it was a raid led by Miles Standish in 1623 on the Massachusett tribe and Massasoit's decision to befriend the Pilgrims that led to what is now referred to as the Wampanoag Nation.

 

Massasoit's hold on the region came as a result of the deaths of some influential Cape sachems, Philbrick wrote. "Over the next few years, Massasoit established the Indian nation we now refer to as the Wampanoag — an entity that may not even have existed before this crucial watershed."

 

Like the Indians before them, colonists were drawn to the region — known as Titicut and Cohannet — by the herring-rich Taunton River.

 

Elizabeth Pole, according to historical accounts, purchased land in 1637 for a "peck of beans and a jackknife," moving from Dorchester to Taunton where there was more room for flocks and herds.

 

Though there is no official record, the Pole legend is depicted on the city's seal.

 

The following year, 46 settlers purchased land in a deed that bears King Philip's name, and Taunton was incorporated.

 

In the years that followed, Massasoit-controlled Indians and the settlers lived a mostly peaceful existence, though by 1657 Massasoit's sons became increasingly troubled by the invasion of colonists into their territories.

 

"Just a few months later, (Massasoit's son Wamsutta) refused to part with a portion of the land his father had agreed to sell" to Taunton, Philbrick wrote.

Philip also did not see things the way his father did. In the years that followed that 1671 showdown with the colonists in Taunton, Philip continued to plot his attack, Emery wrote.

 

It is the murder of Indian John Sassamon in 1675 that triggered the start of King Philip's War — a bloody conflict that decimated the native population.

 

 

 

Taunton figured prominently in that war. On June 24, 1675, "Edward Babbitt of Taunton was killed by an Indian of Philip's band," Emery wrote.

 

A few days later, it was Taunton that was designated as a rendezvous point for colonists where they gathered under the command of Maj. William Bradford of Plymouth, according to Emery's book.

 

Philip was chased for a little more than a year in a far-ranging war. In the final days of the conflict, on July 31, 1676, Capt. Benjamin Church learned King Philip was about to cross the Taunton River with a view of attacking the towns of Taunton and Bridgewater, Emery wrote. The next day Church saw Philip on the banks of the river and fired at him, but he escaped.

 

On Aug. 6, 1676, with the help of an Indian informant, 26 Indians were captured in what is now Norton, Emery wrote.

 

The war ended that month with the killing of King Philip at Mount Hope in Rhode Island.

 

All the while, the Mashpee Wampanoag remained on Cape Cod, staying out of the conflict on land set aside for the tribe by Richard Bourne, a Sandwich selectman.

Tribes join

After the war, the Mashpee Wampanoag "absorbed the Coatuits, Satuits, Paupausits, Wakoquits, Ashimits and Weesquob tribes," Travers wrote.

 

Mashpee opponents, like the Pocasset and Massachusett tribes, will argue that's evidence Taunton and other areas of Southeastern Massachusetts north of the Cape Cod Canal are outside the Mashpee Wampanoag territory.

 

James Lynch, an ethno-historian hired by Pocassets and towns like Halifax to counter the Mashpee Wampanoag claims, has written the Mashpee can't make the historic and cultural claims necessary because they don't exist.

 

"The eminent historian Bernard Lewis once remarked that there are three kinds of history, recovered, remembered and invented," Lynch wrote. "Mashpee's claims to Taunton are of the third sort."

 

The Mashpee will likely counter they were part of one nation under Massasoit and they, like the Aquinnah, are the tribes that survived and continued to govern as a tribe throughout their history.

Unlike King Philip's War, it is a battle likely to play out in a courtroom.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120701/NEWS/207010335/-1/NEWS36

No Heavy Lifting by Boston Herald

In their application for Federal Recognition, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe claimed ONLY Mashpee as their Tribal Home and gained that recognition with the support of Jack Abramoff and campaign contributions for which Glenn Marshall went to prison [check out the connection].

Not known for any heavy lifting or even facts, just slap dash reporting, the article below was published without even the courtesy of naming the Tribes that opposed their territory being invaded by the Mashpee Wampanoags.

Taunton Gazette Photo | Mike Gay

Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson, vice chair of the Pocasset Tribe, spoke out against the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe getting the land into trust in East Taunton during the Bureau of Indian Affairs scoping meeting on Wednesday, June 20, 2012.

Mashpee Wampanoags defend ties to land eyed for casino

By Associated Press
Thursday, June 21, 2012

 

TAUNTON -- The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is defending historical claims to land in Taunton where it hopes to build a resort casino.

The Pocasset and two other Indian tribes questioned those ties Wednesday at a hearing held by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Mashpee’s land-into-trust application.

As part of its bid, the Cape Cod-based tribe must demonstrate historical ties to the 146-acre industrial site in East Taunton. Mashpee tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell said the tribe had villages there centuries ago when the area was known by its Indian name, Cohannet.

But representatives of the other tribes said there was no evidence the Mashpee had a significant presence in the territory.

The bureau’s review of the application could take up to two years and will include an environmental impact statement.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20120621mashpee_wampanoags_defend_ties_to_land_eyed_for_casino/srvc=home&position=recent

Taunton: Another taxpayer funded project!

The Slap Dash planning for the next Mashpee Wampanoag Folly in Taunton failed to include taxpayer funded infrastructure improvements [among numerous other things].

Just when you think the bill to the Commonwealth can't get much higher than the Suffolk Downs Follies, all you hear is Cha Ching! Cha Ching!

Big Dig anyone?

In another case of the blind leading the blind, it comes as no surprise to anyone that Senator Pacheco, long known for his unwillingness to listen, should be in the midst of yet another fiscal fiasco.

And where was Senator Pacheco the evening of the BIA Hearing? At a fund-raiser around the corner.
The drawings released of the next phase of the Mashpee Wampanoags Follies fail to indicate close proximity to homes, schools, a church and the narrow roads.

Mashpee Wampanoag tribe addresses concerns

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

June 21, 2012

TAUNTON – Traffic, water supply, effects on a nearby river, archaeology, and proximity to an elementary school are among the concerns that were raised by several dozen people at a public hearing held on the Mashpee Wampanoag's proposal for an Indian casino in the city.

Wednesday night's meeting at Taunton High School kicks off review of the proposal under the National Environmental Policy Act and will determine the range of environmental issues to be considered and what needs to be done to mitigate them, said Chet McGhee, regional environmental scientist for the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Related Links

• For more Wampanoag casino coverage 

The tribe's environmental engineer David Hewett from Episilon Associates was on stage to hear the public comments and outlined the various stages of the process where the public's input will be heard.

The BIA is reviewing the tribe's application to have the federal government take 146 acres in Taunton and an additional 170 acres in Mashpee into trust for an initial reservation.

The tribe is proposing to build a $500 million casino with three hotels, restaurants, retail shops and a water park in the Liberty and Union Industrial Park.

Tribal council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said the tribe has a strong tradition of protecting natural resources.

“We will consider initiatives and incorporate specific measures into the project to maximize energy conservation and energy efficiencies in all buildings, utilize materials and equipment that will maximize reuse and conservation, integrate creative landscape designs to maximize open space, water conservation and reuse while minimizing overall building footprints,” Cromwell said.

“Sustainable design and development principles will be a central focus for the tribe as we develop this project.”

City leaders also spoke in favor of the project, but the bulk of the night's comments came from casino critics and stretched more than four hours.

Members of the Pocasset Wampanoag tribal council, also known as the Pokanoket, renewed their objection to the Mashpee tribe seeking a casino in what they say is their ancestral land.

The Pocasset tribe is a state-recognized tribe but has not yet been recognized by the federal government.

William Gray, a Pocasset member, said historic maps clearly show the Mashpee don't have ties to the land.

“You have those maps,” he said. “You need to check that and do the right thing.”

Faries “Dreaming Bear” Gray, a member of the Massachusett tribe, also criticized the Mashpee Wampanoag's invasion of Pokanoket territory.

“They don't care about the environment,” he said. “They care about money.”

But the Mashpee tribe got some support from a sister tribe. Bill “Little Flying Feet” Allen, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) gaming corporation, spoke out in favor of the Mashpee application.

He said the Aquinnah and Mashpee are the only federally recognized tribes with aboriginal rights to Southeastern Massachusetts.

“We acknowledge and support their right to game,” he said.

One of the requirements of applying to take land into trust is to show historical and cultural ties to the property. The Mashpee tribe has not publicly disclosed how it plans to show those ties, but in his remarks Cromwell said the tribe has a “long shared history with the city of Taunton.”

The Mashpee Wampanoags haven't figured out that secrecy fails.

Wednesday's hearing also attracted tribe opponents from Middleboro, where the Mashpee Wampanoag had a previous agreement to build a casino.

Middleboro Selectman Alfred Rullo Jr. said the Taunton project will have “devastating impact” on traffic in surrounding towns, and Selectman Allin Frawley said the project will have an adverse effect on the Taunton River.

James Mulcahy, who lives near the proposed casino, asked the tribe be required to mitigate light pollution caused by the casino and protect birds by limiting the amount of glass used on the buildings that might result in bird strikes.

Laura Wixon urged the protection of vernal pools and rare and endangered species. “It is wrong to destroy this habitat,” she said.

Tribe lobbyist William Delahunt, a former congressman, watched part of the proceedings from the back of the auditorium.

The BIA will hold a similar hearing at 6 tonight at Mashpee High School on the tribe's application to take 170 acres in the town into federal trust for housing and government buildings.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120621/NEWS/120629965

Tribes oppose Mashpee’s Taunton casino

Tribes oppose Mashpee’s Taunton casino

Taunton Gazette Photo | Mike Gay

Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson, vice chair of the Pocasset Tribe, spoke out against the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe getting the land into trust in East Taunton during the Bureau of Indian Affairs scoping meeting on Wednesday, June 20, 2012.

By Gerry Tuoti

Taunton Gazette Staff Reporter

Posted Jun 21, 2012

Taunton —

The Bureau of Indian Affairs heard hours of testimony covering a wide range of issues during a meeting in Taunton on the proposed tribal casino project.

“My role is to make sure the decision maker is fully aware of all environmental impacts associated with the application,” said Chet McGhee, an environmental scientist with the BIA.

The bureau held the scoping meeting Wednesday night to solicit comments from the public as it prepares its environmental impact statement on the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s application to have land taken into trust, a process that would give the tribe sovereign control over the property — a step necessary for getting a tribal casino.

Many casino opponents raised concerns over traffic, socio-economic impacts, natural resources, water usage and infrastructure.

“I was confused as to why anyone would want to put a casino in a wetland area divided by a rail line and adjacent to a school and a church,” city resident Mike Callahan said at the hearing, which lasted several hours and featured public comments from more than 60 speakers.

A handful of Middleboro officials also voiced their concerns. Selectman Al Rullo questioned the impact of traffic on Route 24, especially the section between Route 140 and I-495.

“It will have a devastating impact on surrounding communities,” he said.

The Mashpee are seeking to build a casino on 146 acres in Liberty and Union Industrial Park in East Taunton.

Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. asked that “the project be looked upon favorably” by the BIA.

And that's the best he can do?

“The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has a long shared history with the city of Taunton, once known as Cohannet, and together, we have a long, bright, shared future,” Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman Cedric Cromwell said.

Members of the Pokanoket, Pocasset and Massachusett tribes, however, offered comments questioning the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s historic ties to Taunton.

“The town of Taunton is located within what is historically Pokanoket territory,” Pocasset Chairman Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson said. “The Mashpee never maintained a significant historical presence, as the Bureau of Indian Affairs would define it, in southeastern Massachusetts. They were confined to the Cape.”

Some speakers also questioned the authority of the federal government to take the Mashpee’s land into trust, citing Supreme Court rulings from Monday and 2009. Monday’s ruling could potentially expand the number of people who would have standing to file a lawsuit against a land-in-trust approval on the grounds that the Mashpee weren’t federally recognized before the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.

“I see a jurisdictional abuse here, and I object,” said attorney Adam Bond, a former Middleboro selectman. “The BIA must first determine it has jurisdiction to act to take the Mashpee’s land into trust … I ask that the BIA follow the law and stop reaching to expand its authority and doing so at the people’s expense.”

The astounding Adam Bond was prime Middleboro Casino Cheerleader who crammed Middleboro's deal through, even as there was no agreement in place, working overtime to grandstand, socialize with the Tribe's big wigs and spread misinformation. Now suddenly opposed?

Since Mr. Bond schmoozed and cuddled with the Powers-That-Be, one can only speculate that the unions with whom he got into bed have severed their ties after witnessing Mr. Bond's erratic public behavior and enduring his abrasive assaults.

Or maybe after an interim candidate, Keiko Orrall was elected with an anti-union position, Mr. Bond perceived the wind blowing in that direction.

 

Mr. Bond stoked the hostilities, dividing Middleboro, labelling opponents as racists or braying donkeys, managing to alienate both sides of the issue.

The Emperor has No Clothes! Mr. Bond has never done anything except to work toward a guaranteed taxpayer paycheck.

http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search/label/Adam%20Bond

Cromwell, in a statement the tribe issued, disputed the court rulings’ effects on the tribe’s quest for land.

“This ruling does not change anything about our pursuit of land in trust, which is progressing rapidly, nor does it change our focus on bringing thousands of jobs and millions in revenue to our Tribe, Taunton, and Southeastern Massachusetts through our destination resort casino in Taunton,” he said in the statement. “We will meet all criteria for our initial reservation and we will be successful.”

 

Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x285936355/Bureau-of-Indian-Affairs-holds-Taunton-casino-scoping-meeting#ixzz1yRJ1vCHx

Tribes oppose Mashpee’s Taunton casino

Tribes oppose Mashpee’s Taunton casino
Right to Taunton land is challenged
By Christine Legere Globe Correspondent
June 21, 2012

George Rizer for the Boston Globe

Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson, vice chairman of the Pocasset Tribal Council, was among those who challenged Mashpee historical claims to the proposed casino site.

TAUNTON — The first step in placing the Mashpee Wampanoag’s target casino site in Taunton into federal trust – a requirement for tribal gaming to move forward there – was taken Wednesday, with the US Bureau of Indian Affairs gathering public concerns over possible environmental effects of the project.

About 200 people turned out for the hearing, most ­opposed to building a casino resort in the East Taunton industrial park.

A half-dozen representatives from a string of Pokanoket tribes, standing together at the microphone, questioned the Mashpee tribe’s right to the Taunton land, arguing that the Mashpee have no historic ties there.

Billy Guy, sagamore of the Pokanoket, outlined his tribe’s 400-year history in Southeastern Massachusetts.

“The Mashpee were never part of this area,” he said. “I don’t know why the Bureau of Indian Affairs is backing them. You need to check the history and do the right thing.”

The environmental review process will take from 13 months to two years to complete, according to Burean of Indian Affairs officials.

Daryl Black Eagle Jamieson, vice chairman of the Pocasset Tribal Council, expressed similar sentiments.

 

“We think it’s an insult for the Mashpee to come in and try to put land in trust in ­Pokanoket territory,” he said.

 

Prior to the hearing, George Spring Buffalo, Pocasset tribal chairman, said area tribes are preparing hundreds of pages of historic documentation supporting their claim to land in Southeastern Massachusetts and discounting the Mashpee claim.

 

“These people are coming in and stealing our territory,” Spring Buffalo said. “The ­Pocasset have always been here. Our territory stretches from Rhode island, through Bristol County, Middleborough, Freetown, Dartmouth, and Taunton.”

 

Outside the hearing, Mashpee Tribal Council chairman Cedric Cromwell said his tribe’s “aboriginal ties to the land and our history there are well documented.” Cromwell added the hearing was a “monumental step” for the tribe.

 

The Aquinnah Tribe, whose bid to secure casino land in ­either Freetown or Lakeville failed in recent local referendum votes, submitted a letter to federal authorities supporting the Mashpee application, saying both their tribes had “historic and modern connections” to the Taunton area.

 

Several Taunton residents, many of them potential neighbors of the casino, voiced concern over traffic, damage to drinking wells, storm water runoff into the Taunton River, gambling addiction issues, and public safety worries.

 

“The casino entrance is 300 feet from an elementary school,” said East Taunton resident Diane Place.

Veronica Casey, whose family has lived in east Taunton since the 1940s, told Bureau representatives, “I consider it to be my ancestral home.”

 

Jeffrey O’Neill, property manager for the neighboring Crossroads Commerce Center, complained that the casino ­resort would interfere with business tenants.

 

The “projected traffic volume, mitigation measures, and roadway configuration . . . will substantially impair access to and from the Commerce Center property and cause extensive congestion, complexity, and ­inefficiency,” O’Neill wrote in a statement he submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

 

He added, “Crossroads will take all necessary action to protect its proprietary rights.”

 

Carol Kelley, who sits on the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance board of directors, cited the 2009 Supreme Court ruling that bars the US Bureau of the Interior from placing land into trust for tribes not federally recognized prior to the 1934 ­Indian Reorganization Act. The Mashpee tribe won federal recognition in 2007. “The Mashpee are headed for a federal dead end,” Kelley said.

She also cited a Supreme Court decision handed down earlier this week that expands the number of people who can file lawsuits challenging gambling developments.

“It opens the door to residents in all the towns to sue the Bureau of Indian Affairs for taking land into trust,” Kelley said.

 

 

The environmental review process will take from 13 months to two years to complete, said bureau officials.