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Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe asks to join casino land dispute

 Adam Morgan

 

 August 17, 2016

 

In Massachusetts, the federally-recognized Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has asked to intervene in a lawsuit brought by opponents to its planned $1 billion First Light Casino And Resort near the city of Taunton.

Last month saw Judge William Young from the United States District Court For The District Of Massachusetts rule against the federal government’s 2015 land-into-trust decision for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. The case, Littlefield v Department Of The Interior, was brought by a group of local property owners opposed to last year’s judgment and the construction of a new casino.

In his ruling, Young declared that the Department Of The Interior had lacked the authority to approve the land-into-trust application from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe as the tribe had not been federally recognized at the time the landmark 1934 Indian Reorganization Act was passed. He cited the 2009 decision from the United States Supreme Court in the case of Carcieri v Salazar and claimed that tribes could only be eligible for a reservation if they had held an official relationship with the federal government at the time this legislation was ratified.

Despite not being named as a defendant in the case, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has now asked to become involved in Littlefield v Department Of The Interior so as to guarantee its rights are protected and represented in court.

“Besides the Tribe’s strong spiritual and cultural ties to the land, the Tribe has a very substantial financial interest at stake, both with respect to existing future debt as well as potential future revenues that will translate to economic development for an entire tribal community,” read a court filing from Cedric Cromwell, Chairman for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. “If the land is taken out of trust, the Tribe will face a substantial financial loss, which represents a severe and debilitating threat to the economic development and overall prosperity of the Tribe.”

According to a report from The Boston Globe newspaper, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe won federal recognition in 2007 following a 32-year legal struggle. It began preliminary construction on its First Light Resort And Casino in April but has since been forced to suspend all but essential work at the site located about 38 miles south of Boston.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe had originally hoped to open its First Light Resort and Casino by the summer of 2017 with some 1,900 slots alongside 60 table games. In anticipation, the tribe held a jobs and vendor fair for the development in May and explained at the time that the entire project when finished could feature up to 3,000 slots and 150 table games as well as a trio of 300-room hotels, a water park and spa, indoor pool, nine retail stores and a 31,000 sq ft multi-purpose function room.

https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-asks-to-join-casino-land-dispute-32862

Here ya go Taunton!

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Federal Government Designates Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Lands As A Reservation

MASHPEE – The federal government has officially designated the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s lands as a reservation, the final hurdle needed before the tribe begins their $500 million resort casino project in Taunton.

The declaration was published today in the federal register by the U.S. Department of the Interior, two months after land in both Taunton and Mashpee was placed into trust by the federal government on behalf of the tribe. The tribe has 321 acres in both towns under its control.

“This cements our right to self-determination now and for future generations,” said Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell. “After decades of painstaking work, we are overjoyed the government of the United States has officially issued this reservation proclamation, as we are witnessing the re-birth of our nation.”

The proclamation establishes a land base for tribal self-government under federal law. The tribe has come to Mutual Aid Agreements with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Taunton. Tribal officials say the move also means they can move forward with immediate infrastructure in Mashpee, including the establishment of emergency services on Tribal lands.

Tribal leaders are also working on a Mutual Aid Agreement with the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office to establish dispatch services, a holding cell, and a booking room.

“Re-establishing sovereignty and building a modern nation is no small task,” said Cromwell. “In addition to establishing formal relationships with state and municipal agencies in relation to emergency services, we’ve also adopted a body of criminal law that essentially mirrors state law. Working in conjunction with our Tribal court system, tribal law will be enforced by recently deputized tribal police officers, each of whom has extensive law enforcement experience.”

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has approximately 2,600 citizens.

The tribe was federally recognized in 2007. Federally recognized Native American tribes are allowed to build casinos on native land, or land that has been taken into federal trust.

The 2011 law that legalized casino gambling in Massachusetts provided for a casino in eastern and western Massachusetts, a slots-only casino, and a casino set-aside for a federally recognized Native American tribe.

The state’s gaming commission has also been considering the possibility of issuing another commercial casino license for southeastern Massachusetts.

MGM Resorts is planning a casino for Springfield, while Wynn Resorts is looking to build a gaming resort in Everett. The slots-only casino has already opened in Plainville.

By Matt McCarthy, CapeCod.com Newscenter

http://www.capecod.com/newscenter/federal-government-designates-mashpee-wampanoag-tribal-lands-as-a-reservation/

Feds place Mashpee Wampanoag tribal lands in trust, paving the way for Taunton casino

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS  
January 08, 2016

MASHPEE, Massachusetts — The federal government has placed Mashpee Wampanoag tribal lands in trust as a reservation, paving the way for the Cape Cod tribe to begin construction of a casino in Taunton.

The U.S. Department of Interior's designation was published in the federal register on Friday, less than two months after the Wampanoags transferred formal ownership of approximately 321 acres of lands in Mashpee and Taunton to the federal government to be held in trust.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a statement the designation "cements our right to self-determination now and for future generations."

In addition to reaffirming the tribe's intent to build a resort casino, Cromwell says the move also allows the Wampanoags to establish public safety services on tribal lands.

http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/76285b95b5c34fc197c5bf0bf9572bda/MA--Massachusetts-Gambling-Wampanoags

Feds Approve Reservation For Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe As It Plans Casino - CBS Local

Federal Government Designates Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Lands As A Reservation - CapeCod.com News

Feds opens door for Wampanoags to build Taunton casino - Boston Herald

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Mashpee Wampanoag Debt

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Tribe members urged to question finances

Wampanoag budget up for vote at Sunday meting

A group describing themselves as “concerned members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe” sent an automated message urging fellow tribe members to attend Sunday’s tribal body meeting to discuss tribe finances.


By George Brennan
gbrennan@capecodonline.com
Posted Jan. 5, 2015 @ 6:20 pm

MASHPEE – A group describing themselves as “concerned members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe” sent an automated message urging fellow tribe members to attend Sunday’s tribal body meeting to discuss tribe finances.

The two-minute call, which came through on an Oklahoma City phone number, went through a variety of tribe financial concerns, including the borrowing of $100 million in pursuit of a Taunton casino project and $374 million in additional borrowing the group says is planned by the tribe’s gaming authority.

Tribe sources confirmed the authenticity of the call and the information in it.

The money borrowed thus far is from affiliates of Genting Group, a Malaysian casino giant that helped to fund Foxwoods in Connecticut. The tribe pays 16.5 percent interest on the debt, according to documents provided to the Times in the past.

Sunday’s phone message went through a series of “facts” and urged the tribal members receiving the message to “alert your family” and attend the meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Mashpee Wampanoag Community and Government Center at 483 Great Neck Road South.

The tribe’s $12.5 million operating budget is subject to a vote of the tribal body Sunday. “The majority is spent for salaries and luxury travel,” the message stated. More than 150 telephone numbers received the message, a tribe source said.

Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell did not respond to a request for comment through the tribe’s public relations firm, Regan Communications. In the past, Cromwell has declined to discuss tribe finances with regard to Project First Light, saying those numbers are proprietary in nature.

He has publicly said the tribe is only responsible for repaying the money borrowed if a casino is built, though that’s disputed in the phone message to tribe members.

“Our research shows that the tribal families are responsible for any debt owed,” the automated message stated.

The tribe’s gaming authority consists of Cromwell, treasurer Robert Hendricks Sr., council member Charles “Bobby” Foster, council member Trish Keliinui, council member Yvonne Avant and project associate Melissa Hill, according to the tribe’s website.

Putting $374 million of borrowed money in the authority’s hands with no oversight is wrong, said one tribe member, who asked that his name not be used.

“We should all get a vote on that,” he said.

Other tribe sources contacted Monday also declined to comment on the record for fear of retribution. When two tribal council members, Carlton Hendricks Jr. and Laura Etta Miranda spoke to the Times in October about their concerns with the tribe's borrowing, they were criticized by Cromwell and there was a lengthy discussion at a tribal council meeting about possible sanctions. Ultimately, Hendricks and Miranda were not punished.

Sunday’s meeting comes with just one month until the tribe’s annual election on Feb. 8. The candidates haven’t been finalized yet, but six seats will be on the ballot — an election that could alter the balance of power on the council depending on who runs and wins. No tribal officer positions – chairman, vice chairman, treasurer or secretary — are on the ballot, however.

Candidates have until Sunday’s meeting to turn in their nomination papers.




http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20150105/NEWS/150109706/101015/NEWSLETTER100

Mashpee Wampanoag: Tribe leader was arrested on drug charge

Tribe leader was arrested on drug charge
By George Brennan

MASHPEE — The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's recently hired director of child welfare was arrested on a drug possession charge just four months before taking the job, according to court records.

Ronda Jones-Hughes, 35, was arrested Jan. 20 and charged by the Broward County (Florida) Sheriff's Office with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, according to records filed online by the Broward County clerk of courts. She pleaded no contest to the charge, according to court records, was ordered to pay a $100 fine, plus a $50 court fee.

Jones-Hughes is still listed on the tribe's website as the director, but a source said she was fired from the $70,000 per year job during a closed-door tribal council meeting on Dec. 29.

Court records show Jones-Hughes was returning from a cruise to the Bahamas when a police dog sniffed out the drugs in U.S. Customs.

In Massachusetts, Jones-Hughes would have been issued a civil citation because the amount she allegedly had in her possession was less than an ounce, but in Florida it's a misdemeanor charge.

The charges against Jones-Hughes were first reported on Reel Wamps, an anonymous blog that comments on Mashpee Wampanoag issues. Shortly after it was reported, the blog was taken down and Reel Wamps launched a website by the same name.

Paul Mills, a tribal elder and outspoken critic of the tribal council administration, said the hiring of Jones-Hughes is an example that tribal leaders are not running the tribe properly.

"We should have a no-tolerance policy in place for something like that, especially for someone working with children," Mills said. "The administration needs to be consistent with (criminal background) checks; everyone hired should be subject to one. That should be a matter of routine."

Tribal Council chairman Cedric Cromwell refused comment through a tribe spokeswoman. "The tribe does not comment on personnel matters," spokeswoman Brooke Scannell said in an e-mail.

In 2008, a tribe member was removed from his job as coordinator of Indian education with the Mashpee Public Schools after it was learned that a drug charge was overlooked.

Repeated calls Thursday and this week to the child welfare office and to Jones-Hughes cell phone listed on the tribe's website were not returned. A woman who answered the cell phone Tuesday said Jones-Hughes calls are now forwarded to her and she can no longer be reached at that number.

According to the tribe's website, the child welfare office provides children and their families with "access to community-based, culturally appropriate services that help them grow up safe, healthy, spiritually strong, and free from abuse." The office collaborates with the state's Department of Children and Families to "prevent out-of-home placement, to maintain family ties and responsibilities, to reunify families and to provide kinship permanency plans for children who cannot return home."

When she was hired for the job, Jones-Hughes, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, was heralded in the Mashpee Wampanoag's monthly newsletter for being an "active and visible advocate for American Indian children."

According to the newsletter, Jones-Hughes graduated with both bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from Rutgers University. She was also credited with establishing the Red Path Child and Family Agency in North Carolina, a first-of-its-kind placement agency for American Indian Children.

She was crowned Miss Indian North Carolina in 1998, the newsletter reported.

Mills and other elders are also once again raising questions about the tribe's finances in letters to Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.

In a Dec. 14 letter sent to Coakley signed by Mills, Ann Peters Brown and Patricia Oakley, the elders specifically question a $17 million loan the tribe has received from Malaysian investors Kien Huat. "The council refuses to produce valid financial reports or the audio tapes of minutes of meetings a concrete proof of government actions and votes," the letter states. "We have no way to stop the spending spree committed in our names while we have many tribal members homeless and hungry."

Scannell declined to comment on the letter but noted that Cromwell has written about finances, including the loan from investors, in the tribe's newsletter.

Coakley's office acknowledged receipt of the letter, but had no further comment. O'Keefe's office said there is no active investigation of the tribe as a result of the letter to his office.

State and federal courts have repeatedly ruled that they lack jurisdiction since the tribe was federally recognized in 2007, making it a sovereign nation with its own government and court.

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