The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts last week achieved its first federal court victory in its struggle to build its $1 billion First Light casino in Taunton.
A U.S. District Court for D.C. denied a petition by plaintiffs in the original case that stopped construction of the casino to transfer the current litigation by the tribe against the Department of the Interior back to the First Circuit Court in Boston.
This allows the tribe to fight in an arena more to its liking: the D.C. District Court, where tribal sovereignty rights have consistently triumphed.
The tribe has sued Interior, claiming it acted arbitrarily when a federal court ruled that it could not put 300 acres for the tribe into trust. The court ordered the department to look at other ways to do it. The department ruled that it was unable to do so and withdrew its support “without sufficient explanation,” according to the tribe.
The tribe is also pursuing a legislative remedy where Congress would skip the Interior Department and directly put the land into trust. Last month the House of Representatives voted to advance such a bill. It has less support in the Senate.
Mashpee Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell issued this statement: “The significance of this victory and its importance to our Tribe cannot be understated. Judge (Rosemary) Collyer agreed with every single argument that we advanced and showed, as a Reagan-appointed judge that our issue is a bi-partisan plight with ‘national policy implications’ for the rights of tribes across the U.S. She was also right to point out that the Tribe has received support from pan-tribal organizations representing more than 250 tribes across the U.S. who all agree that the Interior was unlawfully arbitrary and capricious. We still need urgent support from the U.S. Senate to finish the work of the House to preserve our limited resources for the housing and caring of our members versus fighting frivolous litigation, but we are encouraged by this momentum.”
Cromwell is under increasing pressure at home from tribal members who want to remove him from office using the recall.
