Biden's Interior Dept. Reverses Trump's Attempt to Strip Mashpee Wampanoag Lands of Reservation Status | Sovereignty
By: Levi Rickert (Native News Online)
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Details By Levi Rickert December 22, 2021
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe received on Wednesday an early Christmas gift from the U.S. Department of the Interior on Wednesday when it received notification from Assistant Secretary of the Interior - Indian Affairs Bryan Newland that the tribe's reservation has been confirmed.
Today's decision reverses the action by the Trump administration's attempt in March 2020 to strip the tribe of its reservation, which includes 321 acres of land that was put into trust status during the Obama administration. The Obama decision was reversed by the Trump administration three years later in September 2018.
Want more Native News? Get the free daily newsletter today.On Wednesday, Newland confirmed that the Interior Department has authority under the Indian Reorganization Act to take such action, and further confirmed that the Tribe's Reservation has remained in federally protected trust status since the Reservation land was first placed in trust six years ago on November 10, 2015.
"This is a momentous day for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, for indigenous communities across the country, and for defenders of justice," said Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Brian Weeden. "We are grateful that President Biden and his administration, including Secretary Deb Haaland, Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland, and Solicitor Bob Anderson, have faithfully implemented the law and respected the sovereign rights of our tribe to protect our reservation."
The 55-page decision had the support of the Massachusetts' two United States senators.
"I congratulate the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on this major victory, which conclusively reaffirms the trust status of their reservation," said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). "The Massachusetts congressional delegation and I have proudly stood with the Tribe throughout its fight to protect their ancestral homelands—a fight that should never have been necessary in the first place. I am glad to see the Biden Administration and the Department of the Interior finally issue this confirmation, and to end the attempt begun by the Trump Administration to unjustly disestablish the Tribe's reservation."
"The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has withstood years of uncertainty after the Trump administration's unlawful, unprecedented and unjust attempt to abrogate their sovereignty and take away their Tribal lands," said U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). "The Department of the Interior's decision today finally lays to rest these wrongful actions and reaffirms the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's right to this land, which they have stewarded for more than 10,000 years. I join Tribal Leadership and the Wampanoag people in celebrating this decision and look forward to our continued partnership. We must take every opportunity to support and elevate Tribal sovereignty and land rights across the federal government as a cornerstone of our fight for a just, livable future."
Weeden said the decision allows the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to reclaim and protect their cherished land and better serve its people for generations to come.
CLICK to read the Interior Department's Decision
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DonateFree Newsletter About The Author Author: Levi RickertEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. He can be reached at [email protected]
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Great to see this done. When the Trump administration reversed the original ''land to trust'' it was the first time this was ever done to a tribe since the termination era of the 1950s.
Very great to see it done.
It would be interesting to know what reason Trump claimed for reversing the original decision, and what the real reason was.
He may be smarting from his inability to make a casino successful. He has a long history of trying to destroy or stop Indian casinos.
"Trump" and "destroy" are synonymous.
Trumps cabinet picks for the Interior were oil and energy industry insiders that favored selling federal land leases to anyone with a checkbook big enough.
This is what the Interior Department used for their reasoning.
That's true.
Happy for them. Must suck being in limbo then to have a president try to take it all away...
It is settled now.
Yes it is. About a year ago a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Mashpee and stated what the Trump administration had done was illegal.
This decision stops the illegal nonsense that the Trump administration tried.
that unamerican insurrectionist POS needs a 5 gallon honey enema and then to be staked asshole down on a fire ant hill.
Now that is quite the visual.
Good...
Yes, indeed.
Great news! And a great day for not only the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and its people. And it gives a warning to others who think they have the right to take land that rightfully belongs to Native American Tribes across the country for their own purpose, or that of their Good 'Ol Boy Buddybusters, that they will not succeed.
Great case and seems to have squashed any more attempts.
I am tired of hearing about corporations trying to take over Tribal lands for their own use, like the Oil Industry and Mining Operations for money in their own pockets and the Tribes get nothing but the loss of their rightful land.
It seems there are always tribes in court defending our rights, sad because it isn't free and we have to spend way to much time and money defending our rights in court.
Exactly and let's not pretend that Biden's Interior Dept. ruling will preclude a Trumpian administration from changing it AGAIN.
I cannot imagine what it's like to have an election decide whether your home is your home.
This is the real reason Trump et al screwed the Mashpee
So basically, helping those who helped him, instead of doing what was right. Not shocked.
Yup, typical of a grifter. The moosh noosh bankrupted three casinos, that's damn near impossible to do.