Like much of the surrounding communities, the opioid epidemic has continued to hit home in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. It’s an issue that the Tribe has refused to stay silent on, as they have taken an increasingly active role in combating the disease over the past few years. And now the Tribe is rolling out a new marketing campaign aimed at better educating the community on what opioids are and the actions that can be taken to combat the disease of opioid addiction and overdoses.

Last month Congressman Bill Keating, Senators Markey and Warren, the Massachusetts Congressional delegation and a bi-partisan coalition of legislators introduced the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act. 

This bill re-affirms the positive decision by the Department of Interior to create a reservation for the tribe. 

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is seeking job applicants for the following position: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Housing Program Assistant II. This position is within the Housing Department and will report to the the Housing Director. This is a full time, non-exempt, hourly position with a range of $33,251.40 - $42,224.00 annually ($18.27-$23.20/hr.)

Lawmakers from both parties are rebuking the Trump administration's budget cuts with the release of a $1.3 trillion spending bill that includes increases for Indian Country.

The bipartisan appropriations measure, unveiled as Washington's #SnowDay came to a close on Wednesday, clocks in at a whopping 2,232 pages. Buried within it are provisions that provides nearly $3.1 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the agency responsible for some of most critical programs on reservations, and more than $5.5 billion for the Indian Health Service, which oversees the delivery of health care to more than 2.2 million Native Americans.

On March 7 Senator Elizabeth Warren along with nine other senators went to bat for tribal communities that are in desperate need of resources to combat the opioid crisis.  The ten senators submitted a letter to the Committee on Appropriations urging them to provide “robust direct funding to tribal communities to address the disparate impacts of the opioid crisis in Indian Country. The funding would be part of the federal governments FY 2018 budget.

The 2018 Mashpee Wampanoag Powwow Committee is looking for members of the community that are willing to volunteer a few hours at this year’s powwow. The Committee is specifically looking for individuals that can provide assistance in the 1st Aid tent ensuring that our guests and participants stay safe.

During these times, with an uncertain future, it’s so important to know that there are those whom care for our needs with our best interest at heart! The MWT Housing Department certainly does and has a comfort with their approach to helping persons with disabilities or are elderly and low-income.

The following articles will relate to Peacemaking and the Justice system.  I have edited some of the material to make it cohesive and easy to read.  Various tribes have included Peacemaking in their justice systems and provide a wealth of knowledge about the Peacemaking process.  We will examine the Navajo Peacemaking process.  It is a traditional method of Indigenous justice.  We will continue with Chief Judge Robert Yazzie of the Navajo Nation and look at some of the cases that were handled with Peacemaking.

Thanks to the Building Pathways for Tribal Youth under the NYCP grant, the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Education Department is able to coordinate a variety of exciting internship opportunities with area businesses and organizations. The internships opportunities are open to tribal youth ages 14-19 years old and range from areas such as small business and historic preservation to natural resources and communications. All internships pay $750 for 50 hours of work ($15 per hour).

The May Town Election is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, at Parish of Christ the King.

Two seats are up for reelection on the Mashpee Board of Selectmen. Selectmen Thomas F. O’Hara and John J. Cotton both confirmed they will seek another term.

Come and Enjoy the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s “Soup Bash”

Saturday, April 14
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
MWT Community & Government Building/Gymnasium
483 Great Neck Road-South

 “With an estimated year round population of 230,000 for Cape Cod, 15,000 for Martha's Vineyard, and 10,000 for Nantucket, or a total of about 250,000 (not including the summer population), approximately 15,000 people struggle with a diagnosable mental illness on Cape Cod and The Islands.”

Throughout the month of March the entire Northeast was impacted with numerous coastal storms.   The 3rd storm over the course of March 13th and 14th was a powerful Nor’easter that brought heavy snow and strong wind gusts to Massachusetts and our Tribal lands which resulted in significant power outages due to an extended period of heavy wet snowfall and damaging wind (with the most significant outages in southeastern MA and the Cape and Islands), high snowfall amounts across much of the state, damage to trees and poles/wires, hazardous road conditions, and impacts to transportation systems.  

Ancestors of the Wampanoag people used to ease the effects of winter storms by moving their longhouses and wetus away from the coasts and burying their agricultural goods in holes they had dug in the ground.

The Old Indian Meeting House Committee is extending an invitation to all tribal citizens, family, friends and guests to join them at the Old Indian Meeting House on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. for the annual Wampanoag New Year Celebration. Guests are asked to wear traditional regalia.

Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor performs with the Mashpee Middle School Jazz Band with whom he is the resident music mentor through Song Keepers, LTD.

As a graduate of Music & Art/ LaGuardia H.S. in New York City, Mwalim views studying music as essential to enhancing the development of math and critical thinking skills in students. All of the members of The GroovaLottos are products public school music programs, and pay it forward.

The Indian Education Office is collecting Title VI 506 forms for all Native American students’ grades K-12 enrolled in the Barnstable, Falmouth, New Bedford, Sandwich, and Wareham Public School districts. These forms are required by the Office of Indian Education to participate in services, and will be kept on file here at the Indian Education office. Please contact Kitty Hendricks-Miller at (508) 477-0208 ext. 143 or at Gertrude.Hendricks@mwtribe-nsn.gov.

The town of Mashpee and Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leaders remain at odds over whether local and state shellfishing regulations apply to tribal fishermen, a division that was made apparent during a rare meeting between the two governments earlier this month.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Housing Department is now accepting applications for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Housing Project that will be located at 184 Meetinghouse Road, Mashpee. Applications are available online at www.mashpeewampanoagtribe-NSN.gov.

Please join Indian Education, the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP) and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum for family fun, activities, singing, dancing, fishing, and more at the annual Honoring Our Herring event. Honoring Our Herring will be held at the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum on Thursday, April 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.