On Friday, May 11, I sent a letter to the Mashpee Board of Selectmen in response to their letter of April 18 regarding the Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation Reaffirmation Act. It responds to the legal concerns they raised.
Mashpee Wampanoag deserve a pathway to a reservation
IF FEDERAL LAW prevents the Mashpee Wampanoag from securing an Indian reservation in Massachusetts, then there’s something wrong with federal law.
Members of the tribe greeted the Pilgrims. They’ve lived continuously in Southeastern Massachusetts ever since. The federal government recognizes them as a tribe, and they have almost 3,000 members.
Chairman Responds to Mashpee Selectman Letter
I wanted to bring awareness of a recent correspondence Tribal Council received from the Town of Mashpee Board of Selectmen regarding legislative bills sponsored in both the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate essentially emphasizing what is already in place; "Reaffirming our Reservation." As it appears, the Town is concerned that specific language related to the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) was not built into the language of the Mashpee Wampanoag Reservation Act legislation.
Bids Being Accepted for Indian Health Services (IHS) Sanitation Project
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Housing Department is accepting bids for a IHS Sanitation project in Teaticket, MA. Please stop by the Housing Department to pick up a bid package. A pre-bid conference will be held on April 18, 2018 at 10:00 am at the project site. More details are included in the bid package.
U.S. Senate Joins House in Filing Bill to Preserve Mashpee Wampanoag Land Into Trust
Bill would end challenge to Mashpee tribe’s reservation land decision
Congress may step in to end an ongoing legal challenge to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s efforts to secure reservation land and build a casino.
A bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass. and co-sponsored by a cadre of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, would reaffirm a 2015 decision by the U.S Department of Interior to take 171 acres in Mashpee and 150 acres in Taunton into trust, and establish statutory safeguards against further litigation on the matter in federal court.
