Rather than wait for the ruling from the Department of the Interior on its request to review whether it qualifies to put land in Taunton into federal trust, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts has decided to appeal the federal court ruling from last year that overturned the department’s September 2015 decision to put the 151 acres into trust for a proposed billion casino and 170 in trust on Martha’s Vineyard.
The casino would have 3,000 slots, 150 gaming tables, 40 poker tables and a 300-room hotel. The tribe has said it would create 7,000 jobs in the region.
The tribe announced earlier this week that it has suspended its request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review its request—which had been due to be released June 27. The tribe issued the following statement: “…in consultation with the U.S. Department of Interior, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has suspended its request for review under Category 1 of the Indian Reorganization Act.”
The BIA, which is within the Interior department, had been following a suggestion from the judge in the case who had left open the possibility that the tribe might qualify under a different section of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act than the section that U.S. District Judge William Young rejected. The lawsuit against the land into trust decision was brought by residents of East Taunton who oppose the casino.
Initially the federal government had planned to appeal that ruling, but then dropped out. That left the tribe fighting the case by itself. Attorneys for the tribe asked for a stay in the case while the tribe waited for the BIA’s ruling.
The announcement was unexpected—since as recently as a few days before the tribe had expressed its confidence that the BIA would rule in its favor and that it would soon be re-embarking on its First Light Resort & Casino, which it ceased construction on after the adverse court ruling of 2016.
Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell announced, “We will continue our existing appeal while working closely with the Interior on more options to forever protect our land base, bring thousands of jobs to Southeastern Massachusetts, and secure a prosperous future for the tribe and the entire region.”
The chairman left unsaid why the tribe decided to suspend its request—and whether it might later renew that request. Cromwell’s statement did say Mashpees would “investigate all options available to secure the tribe’s land base.”
Two plaintiffs in the case, David and Michelle Littlefield, had a different spin on the development. “Having been informed by the Department of Interior that they did not qualify for land in trust under Category One, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe requested a delay and later chose to withdraw from the process rather than accepting the inevitable,” they said in a statement. They added, “Our next request of the Department of Interior is to remove the land from trust status and rescind the reservation proclamation for the land — to return the land to its former status, making it permanently ineligible for gaming.”
The Littlefields and their fellow plaintiffs challenged the Interior department’s decision on the grounds that it violated the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that held that a tribe cannot put land into trust if it was not “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934. The tribe achieved federal recognition in 2007.
If the tribe continues its appeal, it would be contesting the battle in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which had issued a stay while the tribe pursued its alternate strategy with the Interior department.
When the tribe was anticipating a favorable ruling, Cromwell had said that construction would resume almost immediately with an aim to open the casino in a year.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has so far not issued any comments.
