Now that a federal judge has questioned the Mashpee Wampanoag’s land into trust decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the tribe has petitioned to be party to the lawsuit, which was originally filed against the BIA.
Several weeks ago U.S. District Judge William G. Young for the landowners who challenged the action, although significantly he didn’t order a vacation of the decision to put 300 acres into trust in Taunton and on Martha’s Vineyard. He did rule, however that the Interior Department “lacked the authority” to put the land into trust because of a 2009 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that held that tribes recognized by the federal government after 1934 cannot put land into trust. The Mashpees achieved federal recognition in 2007.
Young sent the decision back to the department, rejecting its interpretation of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, and the department’s interpretation of the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar decision by the high court.
The BIA put the land into trust late last year and the tribe broke ground in April.
Last week Mashpee Chairman Cedric Cromwell announced that the tribe has petitioned to be part of the lawsuit “proceedings “to allow us to be more directly involved in defending our rights.” He added, “The importance of our newly declared reservation cannot be overstated: these very lands are the lands of our ancestors, literally hold the bones of our ancestors, and are nothing less than the Tribe’s life blood.”
The filing differentiates the interests of the department from that of the tribe. “The department’s interest is in the administration of federal lands of the United States for the public interest broadly and the implementation of federal Indian policy, not in the particular sovereign, economic, and personal interest of the tribe,” it says.
Until the situation clarifies the tribe has stopped construction at the site. The tribe will take a “substantial financial loss” if the decision is not overturned, said Cromwell.
If the tribe were allowed to join the lawsuit that would guarantee that the judge’s decision would be appealed. So far the Interior Department has not indicated whether it intends to appeal.
Adam Bond, attorney for the plaintiffs, 25 landowners in East Taunton, speculated that there might be friction between the tribe and the federal government.
“I don’t know what’s going on in the background between the tribe and the government lawyers, but it appears not all is well,” he told the Enterprise News.
Michelle Littlefield, lead plaintiff, told the Cape Cod Times, “We are surprised that the tribe decided to come in at this late stage of the case when it clearly appears that the Department of the Interior has decided to take no further action in this matter. We are confident at this point, who participates in this case will have little effect on the already decided second definition of Indian.”
