The U.S. Department of the Interior has denied all allegations in its answer to a lawsuit filed in federal court by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe.
The Department, answering accusations by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe that it ignored facts and contorted them to achieve a desired result that undid its earlier action in 2015 to put land in Taunton into trust, wrote: “Except as expressly admitted, all allegations are denied.”
The tribe seeks to put 321 acres into trust in Taunton to build a $1 billion casino in partnership with the Genting Malaysia group.
The tribe is trying to overturn the Department’s reversal of its original action that found that the tribe met the definition of “Indian” under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. Specifically, that it was under federal jurisdiction in 1934.
The Department reversed itself when a federal judge in 2016 ruled that the tribe could not put land into trust under the normal rules of doing so. Residents of Taunton, Massachusetts had sued to overturn the action, claiming that it violated the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The tribe’s suit claims that the Department erroneously made the determination. It argues that it should be considered to have been under federal jurisdiction because it was under state of Massachusetts jurisdiction for 400 years, since tribal members first met the Pilgrims when they landed in Plymouth.
The Taunton residents also moved to intervene in the case against the Department and moved to have the venue moved from Washington D.C. to Boston District Court.
