Massachusetts tribe eager for recognition decision
Indianz.com
Members and leaders of the Mashpee
Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts are gathering at their headquarters on Cape
Cod this afternoon to learn of the biggest decision in their
modern history.
In 1621, Mashpee ancestors greeted
the Mayflower and helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in the land
now known as the United States.
Nearly four hundred years later, the tribe still lacks formal recognition of
the role it played in the development of the nation.
A phone call later today will
change that. Jim Cason, the associate deputy secretary at the Interior
Department, is expected to deliver an answer on the tribe's 31-year-old
application for federal recognition.
"It seems unreal that we are
so close to the time when we will hear of the decision on our petition,"
said Glenn Marshall, the chairman of the tribal council.
Marshall
doesn't know what Cason, a non-Indian political appointee who is overseeing the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, will say on the other end of the line. But he and
other tribal leaders hope it will be the news they have been waiting for all
their lives.
"A great deal of time has
passed since my people met the Mayflower and greeted the Pilgrims, but we are a
patient people," said Vernon Lopez, the tribe's traditional chief.
"We look forward to the government's decision with the knowledge that we
have stated our case plainly and forcefully."
The case began in the mid-1970s
amid a landmark legal battle that saw the tribe lose its land claim in Massachusetts.
A jury determined that the Mashpees didn't qualify as
an Indian tribe for purposes of federal law.
Three decades and thousands of
genealogical records, census documents, maps, newspaper stories and interviews
later, the Mashpee believes they can change the course of history. With federal
recognition, they hope to provide housing, education, health and other services
to their members. A casino, if full Class III gaming is ever legalized in the
state, is also a possibility.
The first step to gaining all
those rights comes today in the form of a preliminary determination. The
document, also known as a proposed finding, will state whether the BIA thinks
the tribe qualifies for recognition, based on seven criteria that look at historical,
political, governmental and genealogical evidence.
Whether the determination is
favorable or not, the tribe will have more hurdles to clear. If it's negative,
more evidence can be submitted in hopes of overturning the decision. If it's
positive, the tribe still has to wait a year before the decision is finalized
in the form of a final determination.
In either scenario, the proposed
finding is open for public comment, an invitation for others to criticize, or
support, the course of action.
Even though the tribe filed its
application long before the BIA ever developed its federal recognition criteria
and long before the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 became law, political
controversies have colored the debate. Tribal leaders hired the law and
lobbying firm of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former
lobbyist whose wheeling and dealing in the nation's
capitol led him to plead guilty to defrauding tribes and attempting to bribe a
member of Congress.
Abramoff
never directly worked on the tribe's case, according to lobbying records filed
in the Senate. But he did meet with tribal leaders before they hired Greenberg Traurig, his old firm. Marshall
turned over e-mail exchanges with Abramoff to the
FBI, and the FBI visited the tribal headquarters as well.
Marshall, a Vietnam
vet, credits lobbyists and campaign contributions he and other tribal leaders
made with advancing the federal recognition case. During this time, a provision
urging the BIA to move forward on the petition was inserted into the 2004 Interior
appropriations bill, a vehicle that contained at least two other riders, or
earmarks, for Abramoff's tribal clients.
And Rep. Richard Pombo
(R-California), the powerful chairman of the House Resources Committee, held a
series of hearings on the federal recognition process that case the Mashpees and other similarly situated tribes in a favorable
light. He introduced two bills that would force the BIA to speed up review of
petitions that have been languishing for decades.
The measures never became law, and
the appropriations rider didn't force the BIA to take any concrete steps in the
tribe's favor. Instead, a court case led to an agreement for the BIA to provide
the tribe with an answer on a specific schedule.
So far, the BIA has not slipped.
The preliminary decision is expected this afternoon, right on schedule.
Marshall, Lopez and other tribal leaders plan to present their response at the
tribal headquarters in Mashpee at 4:30pm.
"Today, the roles are
reversed, and we look forward to the same acknowledgement, and to a time when
history is set right, with sovereign status for the Mashpee," said Marshall,
citing the tribe's first contact with Europeans.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has
about 1,500 members. If recognized, they will join the relatives, the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe, as the only recognized tribes in Massachusetts.
