I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of the Tribal Families a safe and Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. We realize that as the Tribe moves forward, we are making progress, but we must do so much more. Making life better for you is a huge task, and that’s what we were elected to do. The goal is to provide you with the services you need and an economic development plan that gets us there. Tribal members and this administration are committed to that plan.

The Election Committee is seeking volunteers and monitors for the upcoming regular election scheduled for February 12, 2023. If interested, please email the Election Committee Chairwoman Robyn Tobey Sweeting at robyn.tobey@yahoo.com. The deadline to submit interest in serving as an election monitor is January 12, 2023.

Regarding Chairman Brian Weeden’s alleged involvement in the Plimoth Patuxet Museum incident, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council regards this as a legal matter to be resolved by the courts. For that reason, the Tribal Council will have no further comment on the matter, referring all inquiries to the Chairman’s legal council.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today it has awarded nine grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). These new grants, totaling more than $73 million, bring the total of the program to $1.655 billion awarded to 121 Tribal entities.

Tribes in six states received grants – California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, and Washington. The Mashpee Wampanoag received a total of $9,130,691.63 for a broadband infrastructure deployment project.

Our Tribal community should have received a message today that Cedric Cromwell and David DeQuattro were held accountable for the damage they caused to our tribal community. Unfortunately, DeQuattro received one year of home confinement, and Cromwell remains free while he appeals his sentence of 36 months, followed by one year of supervised release and a $25,000 fine.