The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts is reinvigorated by the news that the Biden administration has affirmed its status and that it can put land into trust in Taunton. But before continuing to build the casino it started years ago, the tribe wants to move cautiously, says its new Chairman Brian Weeden, who took office in May.
Last month the Biden administration’s Department of the Interior reversed the Trump administration’s order to try to take the tribal land out of trust. The 29-year-old Weeden, the youngest person to hold that post, says the tribe wants to look at the project with a new perspective, given how many years have gone by since the project was abandoned after a negative federal court ruling. Much of the gaming landscape has changed since 2016 when the tribe broke ground on the $1 billion casino resort, Casino First Light, which was to include a hotel, retail shopping, restaurants, a water park and entertainment venues.
The Bay State has three casinos, the Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park slots parlor and the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe has started building a Class II casino on Martha’s Vineyard. Meanwhile, the legislature is considering legalizing sports betting.
Chairman Weeden told the Miami Herald, “We’re back to the drawing board, basically.” He added, “There’s still an appetite for gaming. It just needs to be a smart approach. It has to be different from the past. We need to learn from our mistakes and proceed with caution.”
At the same time, the anti-casino residents of Taunton, who won the round in federal court that shut down construction, have not given up. They have returned to federal court and argued again that the tribe wasn’t eligible to put land into trust because of the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar ruling of the Supreme Court that says a tribe cannot put land into trust if it was recognized after 1934.
In their filing, they said, “The time for adjudication is now,” adding “Plaintiffs respectfully request this court to restore the administratively closed counts … and otherwise reopen the case to permit additional filings for adjudication.”
Despite historians recognizing that the Mashpees were the Indians that greeted the Pilgrims when they landed at Plymouth in 1620, the 3000-member tribe didn’t acquire federal recognition until 2007.
They also argue that a tribe shouldn’t have a reservation in two places separated by 50 miles: Taunton and Cape Cod. The tribe’s reservation includes 170 acres in Mashpee and 150 in Taunton.
As a result of the court decision, the federal government moved to take away the reservation. Until, in June 2020, another federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s decision was “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law.”
The Trump administration appealed but the Biden administration withdrew the appeal in 2021.
Despite the troubles that descended after the adverse court ruling, the tribe has maintained its relationship with the Genting Group—and recently renewed it. The tribe is in debt to Genting for $600 million, but the debt doesn’t come due until a casino begins operating.
Weeden said they are discussing a less grand slot parlor or bingo hall that would exempt it from 17 percent state taxes on gaming. They might also not take the gaming route, but try other enterprises, such as tax-free tobacco shops or tax-free gas stations, or marijuana shops. He told the Herald, “We need to exercise our sovereignty,” adding, “Casinos are just low-hanging fruit.”
At an upcoming tribal meeting, tribal leaders plan to present a plan for using $15 million from the federal stimulus bill and to pursue other funds from the recently passed $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill.
