Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo sent her executive counsel Claire Richards to testify before Congress to oppose a bill that would put 321 acres into trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in neighboring Massachusetts.
The bill is sponsored by Massachusetts lawmakers—and backed by the entire congressional delegation—who want to give a leg up to the tribe whose efforts to build a $1 billion casino ran into a hard wall two years ago when a federal judge ruled that the Department of the Interior acted incorrectly when it put the land near Taunton and on Martha’s Vineyard into trust.
Richards spoke before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples, presenting the governor’s position that the bill would be bad for Rhode Island.
Richards was in a unique position to argue Rhode Island’s case because she has served as legal counsel to several governors. She was involved with the famous (or infamous) Carcieri v. Salazar case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that Rhode Island’s Narragansett Indian Tribe was not able to put land into trust because wasn’t under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was passed by Congress.
This case was cited when a federal judge ruled that the Mashpee tribe could not put land into trust—or rather that the Interior Department could not put it into trust for the tribe.
Rhode Island’s position is that the bill, proposed by Rep. William Keating would “circumvent” Carcieri v. Salazar. The state probably also opposes allowing the Mashpees to build a casino because it would compete with the state’s two casinos. Gaming is the third largest source of revenue for Rhode Island’s state government.
So Richards testified: “An Indian casino in Rhode Island’s gaming catchment area poses a serious threat” to the state’s revenue.
Keating’s bill would overturn the court decision against the Mashpees, and put the land directly into trust. Keating challenged Richards on her testimony. “How could you do this to the tribe?” he asked “Why deal a death blow to this tribe?” He claimed that the tribe’s trust status was at risk, “due to economic factors outside of the tribe’s control.”
Keating added, “The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s status has become needlessly contentious. Nothing in this legislation grants the tribe special permissions or rights (with respect to the casino); it merely guarantees that the tribe is treated equally alongside other recognized tribes.”
Raimondo has called for completely revamping the Indian Reorganization Act to make it more “responsive to states’ interests.”
Also testifying in favor of the bill was Mashpee Vice Chairwoman Jessie “Little Doe” Baird, who noted that since the tribe was forced to stop work on its casino that it was forced to lay off 41 percent of its workers, and stop several government programs. It reduced the tribal police to one officer. Baird also wrote, ″Rhode Island’s interest in whether Mashpee’s reservation is reaffirmed is not about jurisdiction or checker-boarding—its interest is in protecting the revenue stream it is receiving from Massachusetts residents.”
