Residents of Taunton opposed to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe building a $1 billion tribal casino in the Massachusetts city have again resorted to the federal courts. It is a strategy that has worked for them before.
The Bay State residents have challenged the legality of the Bureau of Indian action that affirmed the tribe’s reservation—something the previous administration withdrew. They also argue that the tribe isn’t eligible to put land into trust, citing Carcieri v. Salazar, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tribes given federal recognition after 1934 may not put land into trust. That year is when the Indian Reorganization Act became law.
The same opponents of the casino won a federal court case using the same argument in 2016.
Mashpee Chairman Brian Weeden told WWLP News “We’ve been at war with the federal government and the colonists for over 400 years.” He added, “We’ve been fighting our whole lives and will continue to fight for what’s rightfully ours.”
