Today we celebrate a legal and moral victory that brings to our Tribe justice that has been very long overdue. The United States Supreme Court announced that it would not hear the appeal requested by a small group of Taunton residents who have challenged our right to our Reservation for nearly a decade. With this final legal victory, we secure the future for the generations who come after us, and we honor our ancestors who continued the fight to have ancestral land returned to us. With this victory, we will be able to fully exercise our sovereignty to provide for our people and to preserve our culture and traditions.
The Annual Holiday Gift Card and Parent Toy Pick-up opens on Saturday, December 16, with Stop & Shop gift card pick-up from 9:00 AM to Noon at the Tribe’s Community and Government Center. Starting at 1:00 PM and continuing through 6:00 PM, tribal citizens may pick up both toys and a Stop & Shop gift card. The annual event will continue on Sunday, December 17, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, when parents may continue to pick up both toys and a Stop & Shop gift card.
It's unfortunate that we are not focused on the beautiful display of our culture and history at the Macy’s Day Parade but rather on the actions of an individual tribal citizen. We want to make it very clear that the Tribe takes no stance on the conflicts overseas. Our Tribal Nation remains focused on the issues we face on our ancestral homeland. While we cannot speak for an individual's actions, his actions were not a Tribal decision. Our governing tribal body, along with the other tribal citizens on the float, were not involved with his actions.
A community forum will be held on Saturday, November 25, to allow the Tribal Nation to receive important details about the Mashpee Wampanoag Transitional Housing and Shelter Program and ask questions. The forum will be held from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Community and Government Center at 483 Great Neck Road South in Mashpee.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe received welcome news this evening. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston has ruled in favor of our Tribe. Our tribal lands will continue to remain in trust for generations to come. Tribal citizens who are with us today and our ancestors who have carried the fight for our homeland forward generation after generation. Today, we can celebrate this historic decision.
I want to provide this very important update to our Tribal Community.
On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, I will be in Washington, D.C., testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources at a Legislative Hearing in support of the bipartisan legislation to protect our reservation lands here in Mashpee and Taunton!
The 97th Annual Mashpee Wampanoag Powwow will be returning home to tribal lands on Great Neck Road South next weekend after several years at Cape Cod Fairgrounds.
The tribe’s homeland brings a special meaning to the event, and the Mashpee Wampanoag Powwow Committee appropriately titled this year’s theme “A Traditional Homecoming.”
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Housing Department is accepting bids for 2 (two) residential rehabilitation projects.
Location #1 - East Falmouth, MA - Pre Bid Conference is scheduled for Friday, June 22, 2018 @ 1 p.m. Bids are due July 9, 2018 by 10 a.m.
Location #2 - Mashpee, MA - Pre Bid Conference is scheduled for Wednesday, June 27, 2018 @ 1 p.m. Bids are due July 11, 2018 by 10 a.m.
Contracted services are needed for a “Activities Coordinator” for the Native Youth in Science – Preserving our Homelands (POH) held by the Natural Resources Department of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. POH is a summer youth environmental science camp that combines Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Western conventional science concepts to teach Mashpee Wampanoag tribal middle school youth about their local environment. The Activities Coordinator will be responsible for working with the POH staff to reinforce and support the lessons taught at the camp by tribal culture keepers, visiting environmental scientists, and other guest instructors during the camp. POH is a day camp that will be held for three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) for four weeks starting July 10th and concluding August 2nd.
I want to provide a brief update regarding recent actions taken by the Town of Mashpee and their unequivocal support of the Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation Reaffirmation Act and its swift passage.
At their regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen's meeting on May 21, town leaders unanimously approved support of our legislative efforts and affirmed the Inter-Governmental Agreement established in 2007.
