The board of Selectmen of Mashpee, Massachusetts, has voted to oppose a bill in Congress that would end the legal challenge against putting land into trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Taunton and Mashpee.
The town fears that if the bill passes the tribe would renew land claims against the town and private property owners. The board explained its opposition in a letter to tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell.
The town requests that the bill include language enshrining a 2008 agreement between the town that committed the tribe not to renew land claims, which caused a falling out between the two governments decades ago. They suggest that terms such as “waive and release” of claims against the town be included.
The town is closely monitoring the legal case made by opponents of the casino the tribe wants to build in Taunton. They challenged the decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust for the tribe.
Because the tribe lost that federal case, and has not yet appealed it, Rep. William Keating has introduced a bill that would accomplish the same thing by affirming the 2015 Interior decision.
