Introducing the Secretary's Broadcast: The Secretary's Broadcast is a space to update the Tribal Community on liaison duties, initiatives, and general communication for tribal members coming from the Secretary’s Office. 

Broadcast 10/15/25

Summer has come to an end and it has been a busy summer! From expanding the gaming operations to over 200 machines and the new weekly Amplified Weekends debut, First Light Casino has been rocking, due to the hard work of the MWT Gaming Authority and supporting staff.

On the Mashpee home front, we have been working diligently to work towards community engagement and identifying key issues towards developing our strategic plan. Through the Secretary’s Office, there are many moving projects have been chipping away. A lot of government freezes and shutdowns have effected about success within being awarded grants. Different programs have been shut down, and we can no longer service our members within those same areas. Directors and grant writers continue to work diligently on finding new opportunities and getting creative within applications to meet objectives.

The 105 Leasing deliverables have been executed and ready for submittal. This program allows for the tribe to be reimbursed by the federal government for spaces utilized for grant funded programs covered within specific federal contracts. The work that was started and not completed has been submitted and ready for award for year 2023, 2024, and the beginning to the 2025 and 2026 submission. Therefore submittal will continue to take place as long as the funding continues.

I was fortunate enough to be accepted within the 2nd annual Tribal Leadership Academy through Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. The Academy is competitive week long program for tribal leaders to attend expense free in efforts to support the Ivy League’s founding mission of educating Native Americans.

The program consisted of workshops led by Indigenous professionals that provided information with real life practical sessions to put the education to practice. Leaders brought real initiatives and challenges from our communities and were given the space to strategize on efficient efforts for our nations. We all brought different areas of expertise and all meet leaders who have experience in the initiatives that we were trying to accomplish. Over 25 nations were represented within in cohort, all with different government structures that proved to be more then beneficial to learn more about. You can find my complete travel report here.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Native Environmental Ambassadors successfully hosted our 1st Indigenous Rights of Nature Symposium. the youth hosted indigenous youth, elders, and culture keepers representing over 20 native nations. The week long gathering facilitated fruitful conversations on protecting our natural relatives and provided our mashpee homelands as a space for unity across Turtle Island.

The youth hosted panels with native leaders in this conversation while engaging with other tribal youth to strengthen efforts within their communities. The gathering brought our nation together with our relatives to share traditional stories and cultural similarities. From the pond, traditional clambake, ceremony, to the traditional village site at Maushop farm, the youth showed our native relatives the good ol’ mashpee. Elders from Mscogee Creek, Choctaw, Ponca, Nipmuc, and Mashpee were vital in connecting the spirituality and traditions within our gathering, giving the youth the purpose for the advocacy and why Indigenous peoples are the voices in this fight. Find more on the symposium here.

The Natural Resource Commission is back and meeting regularly as we prioritize our natural relatives and aboriginal rights. The fishing season, brought some legality impedance on our members. We continue to fight to ensure food sovereignty for our future generations. The group is working towards developing more tribal stickers, initiating intergovernmental meetings, and begin the internal legal work of our aboriginal rights in order to combat consistent impedance by outside governments. Each case is an attack of our rights and an effort to define our sustenance to be regulated by the outside.

The Hazzard Analysis Critical Control Point facility has been revived. We have successfully completed 80% of the project with a fast approaching deadline in November to purchase big equipment purchases through an EDA grant. We are actively meeting to create relationships in order to secure funding through different programs in order to connect the facilities to the Town’s water main line. 

As well as update the septic for the entire farm. Through the different efforts to revitalize this project, we have come a long way to correct major construction issues, purchase big equipment, pay back general funds, and begin to see a completion within the near future. The Secretary’s Office is doing the due diligence in researching in order to prepare an adequate operational budget that includes the shellfish farm to present for potential investment from Tribal Council. While simultaneously working closely with the Natural Resource Department and grant writer in getting creative to apply for operational grants for the shellfish farm. We have been able to get creative within our use of the building as well. As the water from cleaning the fish is run through separate holding tanks, we will be purchasing a pump systems in order to water the vegetables in the greenhouse and outdoor community garden. These efforts in completing this facility will create an economic engine for the tribe. While providing the business structure for tribal fisher’s to safely create individual economic revenue. This creates the avenue for our tribal fishers to execute our sustenance without having to adhere to state regulations within purchasing a commercial fishing license.  Once the HACCP facility is open for business in order to sell to the public, tribal fishers can sell their fish to the market, and the Tribe can then sell tribally grown and harvested fish directly to restaurants, the public and different markets.

As we move forward into this unfriendly U.S. Administration, we will focus on our sovereignty and sustainability. Keep looking forward to reports from the Secretary’s office with project updates and upcoming community events that the office is working on. The need to gather has become more and more necessary to gain community unification.

Stay well with the winter months approaching. Share the season of harvest within the community of passing down knowledge to the youth and making sure elders are fed and visited. We thank the creator every day for all things, Thankful for this season of harvest, thankful for the sun rising each day, thankful to keep the fire burning, thankful offer tobacco and cedar.

Secretary Landry 
(508) 477-0208 Ext. 154
Talia.Landry@mwtribe-nsn.gov