Support the Sovereignty of the Mashpee Wamapnoag Tribe - Passed House
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UPDATE (05/15/19): In a 275-146 vote, the the House has passed H.R. 312. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
UPDATE (05/06/19): The vote on H.R. 312, which reaffirms the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reservation as trust land in Massachusetts, has been delayed after [Trump tweeted his disapproval, causing Republicans to withdraw support] (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-tweet-derails-house-bill-opposed-by-lobbyist-with-close-white-house-ties/2019/05/08/019117d0-71b5-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html?utm_term=.6a18fc4abb42) for the legislation.
The Trump administration has decided that the [Mashpee Wampanoag tribe] (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/native-american-mashpee-tribe-turns-congress-land-dispute-181114184734541.html), part of a larger tribe whose ancestors fed the Pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving, does not qualify for a reservation. In 2015, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe received 321 acres of land in Massachusetts in spite of a controversial [Supreme Court ruling] (http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/09/17/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-lands) that decided that in order for the federal government to take land into trust in behalf of a tribe, it had to be under federal jurisdiction at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Then, a federal judge decided that the Obama administration acted outside it’s authority by taking the land into trust and the Trump administration decided not to challenge the decision. This decision not to act puts the tribe’s sovereignty and land into limbo. Yet in the intervening years, the tribe has set up schools, housing projects and its own police and court system to be funded by a [controversial casino] (https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20181019/lobbyists-battle-it-out-over-mashpee-tribes-casino-plan). The remedy for the tribe is for Congress to pass legislation to codify the tribe’s existence and land trust into the US code.
Tribal leaders are currently in Washington pleading with members of Congress pass legislation that reaffirms the 2015 action to take land into trust on behalf of the tribe. Demand that your Senator/Representative support this legislation.
