The tribal council of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts reportedly has voted no-confidence in Chairman Cedric Cromwell. Cromwell is expected to stay on the council—for now at least—but will relinquish all responsibilities associated with being chairman.
This story remains a “report” since the council meetings are not open to the media. The council also reportedly voted to strip the chairman of his financial responsibilities for the tribe and tribal gaming authority, which had been responsible for trying to build the First Light Casino in Taunton.
Reportedly the votes came after a candidate for the council election in February, Aaron Tobey Jr. suggested the measure at the previous meeting. Tobey said he made the suggestion after it became known that Cromwell has financial troubles, including $37,000 in unpaid federal taxes.
For several years, since a federal court put what some fear is a permanent stop to the tribe’s efforts to build the First Light Casino, the tribe has been operating on loans from its partner in that venture, the Malayan Genting Group. The tribe owes Genting in excess of $440 million according to reports it filed to the Malayan version of the SEC.
Tobey reportedly accused Cromwell of leading the tribe to financial disaster, with no casino to show for it.
Although the Department of the Interior put land in Taunton into trust for the tribe, a federal judge forced it to reverse its ruling, and suggested it try a different justification for putting the land into trust. It referenced the Carcieri v. Salazar ruling of the Supreme Court, which in 2009 ruled that any tribe not under federal control at the time Congress adopted the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act could not do so. The tribe gained federal recognition in 2007 and was not able to provide evidence that it was ever under direct federal control, even though ancestors of the tribe are generally accepted to have greeted the Pilgrims when they landed on the shores of Plymouth in 1620.
Cromwell could be forced off the council. Tobey says he is going to circulate a petition after hearing that many members and elders want him gone. Tobey told the Mashpee Enterprise, “I think Cedric should resign. I don’t understand why he’s still in office. He’ll eventually resign or be forced to resign.”
The tribe started 2018 with $6,369,258 in its general fund and ended it with $83,670. The year before Cromwell said the tribe’s annual operating budget was $12 million. The great majority of that money came from Genting. Genting has also financed the tribe’s legal expenditures and government operations.
It is also funding the tribe’s efforts to persuade Congress to pass a bill, H.R.312, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, that would restore its 321 acres in Taunton and on Martha’s Vineyard to reservation status. Lobbying disclosure records show that the tribe spent $280,000 in the last quarter of 2018 lobbying for legislation authored by U.S. Rep. William Keating
After the tribe’s $440 million deficit to Genting became public knowledge last year, Cromwell warned members that the tribal government would be forced to lay off workers and cut programs.
At that time Cromwell stated, “It’s no secret that we have been put in extremely difficult financial circumstances as a result of the uncertainty surrounding our reservation status.” He added, “Every day that uncertainty lingers it further drains limited resources as we try to balance between providing vital services to Tribal Citizens while at the same time continuing a costly fight to retain our land.”
