Greetings Tribal Family,

We returned our Powwow to sovereign land last month…it was an amazing homecoming. Everyone that I spoke with could feel the connection and the importance of our annual powwow being held on our reservation lands. We danced and drummed hard, shared traditional crafts and had some amazing food from our local cooks. It was the good medicine we all needed.

I carried this good medicine with me following the Powwow. I carried it with me as we continued our progress on our new housing project on Meeting House Road, which we will need your help to name, and as I prepared to meet with members of Congress to ensure our land is forever protected.

Many of you may have watched the congressional hearing live on our website and the questions and answers that followed. For our people, this was very positive progress for our land reaffirmation act. Our esteemed legislators on the sub committee understood our historic connection to this country and the importance of passing this legislation in a timely manner.

I felt that it was important that I spoke with the legislators about our connection to the land and our historic connection to this country. In my testimony I reminded the members of the subcommittee that our relationship with the United States is one of the oldest relationships forged and one that we highly value. I also spoke about our current relationship and support we receive from our surrounding communities and that I was glad to have Mashpee Town Manager Rodney Collins join me at the hearing.

Our reservation, like every other tribe across this country, is essential to our ability to engage in economic development and provide vital social services to our citizens. We’re also looking to deliver thousands of good jobs and infrastructure improvements to South Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

It was clear, from start to end, that the various Congressional subcommittee members, including Chairman Doug LaMalfa, R-California, were in favor of the bill. U.S. Rep Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona said towards the end that he looked forward to moving this bill along as quickly as possible and U.S. Rep Don Young, R-Alaska, called it a ‘good piece of legislation.’

That pretty much summed it up. It’s a great piece of legislation. It’s unfortunate that we have ended up at this point, but I’m thankful that we have a solution that was put forward by our good friend Congressman Keating. It’s good for our Tribe and it’s good for our neighbors. You can reach out to Congressman Keating directly at (202) 225-3111 or through his website at www.keating.house.gov. He’s worked very hard on behalf of our Tribal Nation and I’m certain he would welcome hearing from our supporters and tribal citizens.

I went into the meeting with the good medicine I had been carrying from Powwow, shared it with the legislators and came back home with plenty of good medicine to keep our people moving forward. We will prevail. Mashpee will shine.

Kutâputunumuw;
Chairman Cedric Cromwell
Qaqeemasq (Running Bear)