The case of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which first acquired federal recognition, and began building a nearly $1 Billion casino in Taunton, Massachusetts, only to see it halted several months into the process by an adverse court decision, is worrisome to many leaders of Indian Country.
They worry that the Department of the Interior, which was given a second chance for coming up with a land into trust decision that would meet muster from the federal court, won’t be able to find justification for the tribe, which is credited with being the first Indians to have met the Pilgrims when they landed at Plymouth Rock.
At the same time that the Department is considering its 2015 decision to put 300 acres into trust, several members of Congress from the Bay State delegation are shepherding a bill, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reaffirmation Act that would accomplish the same thing by legislative fiat.
It’s very rare for the federal government to remove land from trust and hasn’t really happened since the 1950s and 1960s when Congress moved to end the special status of dozens of tribes.
Derrick Beetso, senior counsel for the National Congress of American Indians told the New York Times, draws comparisons between that extended dark period in tribal history to the Mashpees’ situation. He told the New York Times, “While it’s not exactly the same, this brings back those same types of concerns, that those lands that have been seen as secure and protected are potentially not as secure as they were before.”
Dozens of tribes have written letters of support for the legislation. The town of Mashpee casting about for a lobbyist to try to bolster the chances of the bill. At the most recent meeting of the board of selectmen they voted to authorize the town manager to hire a lobbying firm.
Although 151 acres of the land in dispute is in Taunton, the rest of the 300 acres is in Mashpee, which the town feels is of “paramount importance,” according to Selectman Andrew Gottlieb, who voted for the motion.
The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. William Keating and in the U.S. Senate by Senator Edward Markey, both lawmakers from the Bay State.
Meanwhile the Bureau of Indian Affairs is consulting with tribal leaders across the country about proposed changes to the land into trust process. It withdrew its first proposal after many objections. Tribes object to one section of the new rules that states that the Department will comply with court judgements, rather than appeal them. Tribal leaders demand that the Department defend its decisions up the U.S. Supreme Court.
