The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) based on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, October 30 issued a letter to the Office of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior supporting that claim by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe that it was under federal jurisdiction in 1934—a requirement for the tribe to legally put its land in Taunton and in Aquinnah into trust.
The Mashpees are mired in a federal lawsuit brought by East Taunton residents who oppose the $1 billion casino the tribe wants to build with the Genting group. Part of their case revolves around the claim that it would violate the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that tribes recognized by the federal government after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 may not put land into trust.
The letter makes the point that the Mashpees are widely considered by historians to have been the tribe that greeted the Pilgrims when they landed in 1620 at Plymouth. In also states “The original thirteen states knowingly and specifically agreed to convey their jurisdiction over their Tribes to the federal government and the federal government accepted that authority with the adoption of the Constitution.”
During his Thanksgiving address President Trump alluded to that historical incident, which prompted Mashpee Chairman Cedric Cromwell to chide the president for allowing the tribe’s pursuit of a casino to languish.
The Aquinnah are in the middle of their own quest for a Class II casino on Martha’s Vineyard. They are waiting whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case brought against them by the state of Massachusetts, the town of Aquinnah, and a community group that challenge the tribe’s right to operate a casino.
