Council gets ready for 2023 election, looks ahead to economic growth initiatives

The Tribal candidate qualifying process was presented to the Tribal Council by the election committee Monday night.  It allows candidates to pick up packets beginning December 11 (between 2-4). Packets can be picked up after that date.  Contact the committee for the cutoff date.

There are 6 seats up in 2023:  Domingo Texiera, Nelson Andrews, Jr., Winnie Graham, Yvonne Frye Avant, Aaron Tobey, and Rita Pocknett. The process has not changed. Affidavits for signatures on qualifying petition forms are required, if the signer gives verbal permission. The meeting attendance waiver will continue because of COVID. Voting is in person, no more drive through.  The election is February 12, 2023. Call the election committee with questions.

The Tribal Court is taking its time reviewing Marie’s challenge to her removal as Treasurer by the Tribal Council. Seems pretty cut and dry. 

It’s been four months since the Council asked the Tribal Court to confirm their removal of Treasurer Marie Stone.  They were also asking whether they should have a special election or replace her with Bobby Foster who came in second. The foot dragging will seemingly answer the questions since we have come full circle and are on the heels of another election. The court is looking for a permanent public defender and asked the Council to memorialize it as a judicial ordinance.  The Violence Against Women Act requires it.  Currently the court has an interim Public Defender.

The Enrollment Committee has lifted the enrollment moratorium.  Tribal members needing assistance should call the Enrollment Committee for guidance.

The oyster relay program is expected to generate $180K a year for the Tribe.

It’s a jump start to independence but the undermining of Tribal fisherman by outsiders continues.

The planting of 750,000 oyster seeds will generate the oysters and a new income stream that the Tribe has tried to crank up for decades.  While the town and the Tribe have been working together for successful harvesting, other groups continue to thwart tribal fisherman efforts to gain economic footing in the fishing industry.

 

We will have more on that effort next time.

 

Cedric hurt us in the worst way

The judge in Cedric’s case didn’t have a lot of respect for us but it wasn’t anything new. While there was a lot of talk about our sovereign status, they were actually saying that Cedric was not a public figure.  Not true at all. Try Googling the man.  At least ten pages of just about everything.  He’s wiped his profile of a lot of stuff because it is still pretty bad.  But he’s a public figure alright. They kept winding around the federal governments lack of jurisdiction on sovereign land.

Let’s be clear.  The Federal government does whatever it wants to do.  Why do they “take OUR LAND into trust?” We are in a big FEDERAL TRUST LAND ACCOUNT with nearly 600 other tribes.

Correct. It’s our land why don’t they just give us a deed and call it a day? That would be too much like right. Our land is “entrusted” to the federal government. They have a lot to say about Indian America. They come on to reservations to arrest and prosecute Natives whenever they get ready.

The federal Marshals arrested Cedric, the US Justice Department prosecuted him in federal court and whatever his sentence ends up being, he will be sent to a federal prison. Just remember that.

On to the actual sentencing hearing.  It was a time for victim impact statements.  That would be from Tribal members because we were the victims.

Cedric Cromwell did more damage to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe than we can measure.  Beyond the monetary illegalities, he methodically dismantled the ancient edicts that distinguish us from other races, tribes and the majority of Americans and that is tradition. Those traditions were one of the reasons we were federally recognized. We followed them consistently for centuries and we had a record of it.

Tradition is our foundation because in many instances it influences the crafting of the tribal laws that govern us.

The Tribal Elders are the moderators of our traditions. Core members of our Tribe can spot a Hendricks, a Peters, a Pocknett, a Hicks, a Mills and on and on.  But the Elders knew their family line start to finish. They knew who moved away, who went to college how many kids they had…and so forth. They knew who was on the roll. They used to oversee everything we do. Because of casino prosects we had so many people claiming our ancestry we had to have specific criteria for membership. They used to determine whether those applying for enrollment met that criteria and they monitored our elections to keep unknown or non-enrolled members from voting. They were also the arbiters

Rhoda Fernandes, Natalie Costa and Anne Peters Brown at the 2008 Mashpee Wampanoag Powwow where they selected Talia Landry Powwow Princess among other duties.

of many other important decisions when it came to choosing our spiritual leaders and chiefs. They are counselors and advisors to Council members in particular.  On the whole the Elders were not fond of Cedric. You can’t govern with impunity without the Elders approval.

The unraveling began when one of his protegees running the 2009 election removed the Elders from their oversight process.  No one was there to question hundreds of the unknown “pending members” voting.  People we had never seen before were in line voting.  The voter lists had been reconstructed and Cedric Cromwell was ushered into office. Cromwell quickly became unpopular and dictatorial. Since the Elders disapproved of his heavy handedness, he also removed them from enrollment and Cromwell’s cousin added hundreds of members creating what many called a separate Tribe. Slowly, he fired Aunt Dart, Anne Peters, Rhoda and Aunt Eleanor to name a few. The Elders were disenfranchised from the Tribe which was pretty much as close to blaspheming as you can get.

While he tried desperately to be “Indian” with comical costumes (regalia), tradition meant nothing to Cedric Cromwell, and he saw the Elders as an impediment. He was a late comer to the Tribal community rarely seen but became a casino stalker with a growing ambition. He had no knowledge of our tribal history, recent or ancient, his lineage and had no idea how to enroll in order to remain on the Tribal Council. With a lot of help from Glen Marshall and Patty Oakley, he made it on to the roll in 2006.  Just before federal recognition.

More disturbing was Cedric’s disrespect of Tribal women and Elder Tribal women.  In a vicious harangue in front of Tribal staff, Cromwell cursed and condemned Tribal Treasurer Nellie Hicks Ramos (then in her late 70’s) because she wrote a letter to the Massachusetts Attorney General requesting an investigation of the 2009 election. That was after he threatened another Tribal woman in the Council parking lot because she was not part of his team.  The Tribal Chairman witnessed that episode and was so disturbed be he kept asking “What the hell is wrong with you boy?” He threatened to hit the woman outside a Sunday General meeting because the Council approved a recommendation to video tape the council and Sunday meetings to keep certain Council members from disrupting the agenda. Tribal members ran into the meeting and got the Chairman and Vice Chairman to stop him.

Of course, they challenged him to “go outside “and as usual he refused. Tribal men were constantly calling him out and he was constantly saying no.

Cedric is appealing his sentence. We can’t appeal anything he has done. We live with his horrible legacy everyday.

The Tribal Elders were so concerned with the Cromwell Administration they met with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC on three separate occasions and successfully filed suit after exhausting all legal remedies.  There are so many stories, such a sad slow walk of shame by a man who had no respect for us.

Cedric Cromwell’s 12-year reign destroyed what the colonists and an evolving America could not achieve, and that the hollowing out of our survival mechanism….Tradition.

That’s a terrifying legacy. Fifty years of progress, centuries of tradition wiped out by a man who trampled us in his lust for power and money.

 

 

Cedric Cromwell to be sentenced today

A sad day for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.

Cedric was convicted in May of 3 counts of accepting bribes from contractors on the First Light Casino that was never built. The jury also found him guilty of extortion under the color of an official and conspiracy to commit extortion.

The WORD from Rt 130

If you don’t know Mashpee history, you should check it out. Talk to your parents and grandparents. Identity builds strength.

Well, Genting is doing their thing….Their company RW BET MA, LLC (Resorts World Bet) is on the list of gaming companies vying for one of 7 lucrative online sports betting licenses from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. That’s right.  Genting is going for the sports betting gaming license.  So are a bunch of out of state Tribes…The Seminoles, the Sioux, the Mohegan, but not the Mashpee Wampanoag. If you don’t understand this neither do we.

But we do know.  There is not a damned thing that happens in this Tribe that does not benefit Genting.

Even if Genting were fronting for us, all the money would go to ….wait for it….to them or to  pay off the debt.

But supposedly there’s a “deal” brewing. But Genting is still in charge in the statehouse and the Congress. We are on a leash.

THE TA

The ole boy got called on the carpet for not doing his job, by a council officer and Tribal professionals keep asking ” what’s he doing?” So after 90 days without staff meetings…he has one that’s weird and unproductive with 30, 60 and 90 day staff production deadlines. He’s probably working on other things that could be helpful but hasn’t produced anything yet.

ALEX the Rodriquez may have weaseled his way on to the Tribal payroll after all. So much for transparency.

The Council meeting was productive, and Quahog Pie will give you his opinion.

 

Tribe Pride on the national stage

 

Andrews seen in this FEMA cover photo, brings pride to the Tribe for his national role in the war on climate change. He is also the Co-Chair of the United South & Eastern Tribes Homeland Security & Emergency Services Committee.

Councilman and Tribal Emergency Management Director Nelson Andrews continues to play on the national stage in his work to help craft the Indian Country strategy via a federal government partnership to combat climate change.  The effort comes on the heels of the passage of the Democrat’s massive Inflation Reduction Act legislation which includes the climate change regulations environmentalist and Democrats have struggled to pass for 30 years. Andrews represents Indian Country in drafting the plan for climate resilience. ” We are all part of the future of the planet’s climate through the whole of the community and hazard mitigation. A shared goal of resiliency can be achieved for a sustainable future for seven generations,” Andrews said.

Nelson and Talia Landry, the head of the CDC also launched the solar grant project which is impressive. They also incorporated the CDC which is another important step in the 8A realm, even though we have to wait 2 years to activate contracts. But the focus on tribal member enterprise is not where it needs to be.  We have many tribal members who have talent that could make them a sizable income. A number of ladies and men in the tribe are excellent artists and craftsmen who could grow their businesses with the help of the millions of dollars made available by the Inflation Reduction Act legislation and resources at the BIA. Here’s some of the IRA allocations we can use.

  • $20 billion in loan guarantees for Tribal energy development.
  • $75 million for loans to Tribes for energy development.
  • $10 million for Tribal fish hatcheries

We should have had a fish market years ago. Enhancing a hatchery would obviously be a great asset. Of

Tribal members must know what program resources are available to establish & grow their businesses.

course, Genting is still our DC lobbyist, and overseer and they aren’t interested in keeping us informed of opportunities. A simple evaluation of new revenue sources in a huge bill like this one is pretty standard. The Biden Administration and the Democrats continue to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into new businesses opportunities for Native America. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board at the BIA promotes American Indian and Alaska Natives (Indian) businesses through the expansion of the Indian arts and crafts market. One of these programs is the online Source Directory of American Indian and Alaska Native Owned and Operated Arts and Crafts Businesses, which is a great resource for people looking to buy authentic Indian art and for artists interested in a free business listing.  Again, our craftsmen and women should be making their wares and selling them at the museum. It’s basic economics. The Tribe through the CDC should be helping them launch their businesses. With expertise comes more responsibility and sadly we grudgingly seek out the expertise of many Tribal members who can help expedite our economic development.

Harding’s wetu. Ahem. “Photo Op Wamps” cash in at the Sandwich Heritage Museum. They weren’t the only ones working the festival this summer.

Now there are also all the “Photo Op Wamps” scoffing up the doe all over the place cause they make a living doing it. That would be Mark Harding and his partner Paula Peters.  Harding, the guy least likely to know anything about building a wetu got $50K to build a wetu and a longhouse at the Sandwich Heritage Museum. You can’t be mad at ’em…they know where to look and have the relationships with the Sandwich folks who have stolen our land and degraded us since time and memoriam. They were so treacherous, Mr. Eddie Amos used to say, ” If you’re going to Sandwich you betta bring your box.”  The box was a coffin.

We have access to $100 m in reparations from Harvard that we have yet to access. It doesn’t make sense. Harvard acknowledges wronging us and we have done nothing to get the money for future generations.

The Good News                                              

The Tribe got $1.6m in federal dollars to restore the Parsonage. Vice Chairman Carlton Hendricks, Jr. has worked for over 8 years to finish the project.

Foster could be Treasurer if the court validates Marie’s removal and denies a special election.

Marie Stone files in Tribal Court….delaying advisory opinion on Special Election

Marie Stone challenged her removal from office as Treasurer through a filing in Tribal Court. Prior to her challenge, the Tribal Council asked the court for an advisory opinion on the ability to hold a special election to fill the seat.  The court denied the request until it resolves Stone’s challenge. If the court denies the special election action, Bobby Foster would become the Treasurer because he came in second. Ahem.

 

 

Moving forward

The Tribal Council has asked the Tribal Court for an advisory opinion on holding a special election to fill the potential Treasurer vacancy.  Marie Stone requested documents from the Council hearing where she was removed three weeks ago. She has yet to file suit. The Council is not waiting for her to make up her mind.

Creative, cost saving, energy efficient, environmentally sound solar canopies part of the Trbes’ move forward. CDC gets the credit.

The Tribal Community Development Corporation presented a solar energy project that it has been working on for a while.  It was well received and quite innovative in concept and design.  The first to benefit are the residents in tribal housing. and tree based solar canopies would become part of the parking lots generating energy for the government center.  There’s a little more to fine tune before the project is back next week.

INDIANS IN THE NEWS

Ojibwe Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan was the

Flanagan’s Republican opponent says she
“savaged” him by denouncing his position against abortion when a woman is raped.

target of a racial slur when her Republican opponent called her a “savage.”  Matt Birk is the culprit.  He was addressing a Right to Life group and commented that “two wrongs don’t make a right,” when justifying abortion in cases of rape. Flanagan said Birk’s position “denies survivors the choice to end their pregnancy and force them to live the lives their rapists chose for them rather than ones they wanted for themselves.” On Twitter Birk said Flanagan tried to ” “savage” him for his remarks.  He reluctantly apologized later. Flanagan is a citizen of White Earth Band of Ojibwe.

Native nations are supporting legislation to legalize and decriminalize cannabis in the United States. The bill was introduced in the US Senate Finance Commitee by Majority Leader Chuck Shumer and other leaders.  It is designed to bring uniformity to cannabis regulation nationwide. “The ultimate goal of this historic plant medicine legislation is the ability of our native people to choose their own path and thus their own future without interference by the states,” William Snell, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, said. The legislation provides extensive grants, and funding for enforcement, healthcare education and a long list of guidelines designed to regulate a huge new industry.

The 6 tribes of the Chippawa Nation will decide whether to stick with blood quantum enrollment.

Minnesota Chippawa removes blood quantum enrollment requirement.  Since 1961, children had to have 1/4 Chippawa blood to be enrolled. The approval of the nonbinding referendum that allows the 6 tribes of that nation to decide if they want to lift that blood qualifier. Blood quantum tribal rolls are declining as is the Chippawa.  They will now decide whether stick with blood quantum, go back to direct lineage to the original rolls were calculated after the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.The federal government required the quantum measurement for tribes to receive services.

So What’s new?

The Tribe is putting out a weekly newsletter which is good. So how do we get it to Elders? They don’t fool with the internet.  They have their own news service. Second question. What is the Mittark good for? Slick and full of department reports compiled by department heads pretty much. They get paid nearly $100k a year to talk about  those grants and a lot of stuff that doesn’t help anyone. No comments from tribal members who have concerns about our problems with a multitude of issues…, overdoses, housing, employment.  Ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away.

ABOUT MARIE STONE

Marie Stone has requested documentation from the hearing resulting in her removal.  It signals that she may file suit in Tribal Court.  There is a short time frame for that. Meanwhile the Tribe must prepare for a special election which is up to the Elections Committee Chair Robin Tobey Stamps.  She is out for a few more weeks and should be back to work soon.

Stay tuned.

 

Council removes Marie Stone as tribal treasurer

The young chairman handled an extremely difficult decision by confronting a problem involving a close friend. He won respect by putting the Tribe first.

Council members were determined but not very happy about what they had to do.  The detail of Marie’s misbehavior was sad and tedious.  But it left no doubt about the charges she faced and the overwhelming support for her removal as tribal treasurer. The charges were malfeasance and non-feasance, which is abuse of authority and wrongdoing by an elected official. There were 5 counts for malfeasance starting with the curse laden email, 2 being unauthorized use of the American Express Card with 11 charges, count 3, the loss of financial consultants who were unable to work with her and the abusive behavior toward financial staff and finally abandonment of duties.  For non-feasance there were many issues including no tax return, failure to pay TERO vendors, never filed the ARBA (which was payments to tribal members among others) and abandonment of her duties.

The motion to expel Marie Stone received the seven votes necessary but not before Councilwoman Winnie Johnson left the meeting prior to that vote.  At this point the Council vote to expel Marie Stone is subject to tribal court review if Marie Stone choses to appeal.

Some good news the Council adopted the Code of Conduct put together by Councilwoman Rita Pocknett and moved forward with the purchase of Del Sol. Both are significant to good government and address a serious problem that is killing our people.

 

Pow Wow Princess Royalty

Dasia Peters hands the crown to her cousin Amiyah Peters who will reign until next year’s Pow Wow.

The Pow Wow Princess legacy lives on in the Peters (Costa) family lead by brothers Jermaine (AKA “Quahog”)( & Christine) and Randy III.  Jermaine’s beautiful Dasia gave up the crown to her cousin Amiyah (2022-2023) the daughter of Randy, whose sisters Chenoa and Ketura wore the crown previously. Amiya performed a lovely traditional blanket dance for her exhibition.

The ladies maternal great-grandmother Natalie Costa is a much loved Elder of one of the Mashpee Wampanoag’s oldest families, the Cowets.  They are smart, talented and beautiful representatives of our people. Good luck Amiyah!

SHOWS ABOUT NDN’S YOU GOTTA WATCH

People are fascinated with Native Americans and for the first time in decades a slew of TV series and movies produced with Native actors by Natives and are digging into what that Native Life is for real.

Dark WindsIs an excellent mystery suspense with an all-Native cast on a Navajo

Walking in two worlds is tough as depicted in Dark Winds a well-produced mystery revealing the difficult life on a desolate Navajo reservation in the 70’s.

reservation centered around a small tribal police force trying to resolve murder robbery that heaps tribal revenge on the “colonizing demons,” spells, the FBI and all the social problems Native people experience in the workplace and at home.

AMC Sunday 9pm

 

Dreaming of ways to get off the reservation while trying to deal with the crazies surrounding you.

Reservation Dogs- Oklahoma reservation this comedy is full of characters found in every tribe. It centers on a crew of diverse hustling young Natives with big dreams that are hard to fulfill. Watch for the ghost …the funniest guy in the show. Catch up on Season 1 on Hulu or FX.

             HULU Season 2 — August 3

RUTHERFORD FALLS--A comedy that closely resembles us in that the tribe is in northern New York,

Rutherford Falls has everything! even PretendYins

still lives on their land surrounded by Whites. Their reservation and government are functioning ” the Indian way.” Unlike us they have a casino and they’re branching out with a marijuana business, lots of land to give away and a cultural center etc. It also has a transgender Native character. Maybe we can learn something.  It is funny. Got a new word for those nuts we run into all the time...”PRETENDYINS”

   Catch up on the 2 seasons on Peacock

 

 

We could make millions on a Mashpee show.  We wouldn’t have to make anything up.

Shut Reel Wamps down? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Reel Wamps has been receiving threats lately. This is the second one in a matter of months. It’s kind of interesting because if Tribal members don’t like Reell Wamps, they don’t read Reel Wamps. But most people use it as an information source. Generally it’s stories they’ve already heard about merely confirmed here. Other times is details about actions that tribal members are not privy to but should know about. The information comes from sources who are tribal members. And a lot of the people that don’t like Reel Wamps would be shocked to know that their own family members are the ones ratting them out. We’re very careful about information that’s on here. We’re not trying to hurt anyone but merely convey some of the wrongdoing and weirdness that happens that just isn’t justified. And some sources complain mightily, and  constantly. That’s normal. But, we could not possibly put all of that stuff on here because a lot of the info is way too sensitive and just not true.  But looking at the big picture we talk about things that undermine the tribe and its governing purpose.
So the threat thing was so poorly orchestrated that you really have to laugh because the person claims to be carrying messages from Tribal members. The truth is the message is  from family members trying to manipulate the person because they like to throw a rock and hide their hand. The endgame is to leverage the shut down of Reel Wamps for personal gain. The lines go like this….
“Oh just shut it down for a year.”  Or “Aren’t you afraid somethings going to happen to you? I’m afraid for you.  Just warning you.”
Then there’s “Why are you upsetting the Elders?” Now that one is ridiculous. We all know that the Elders do exactly as they please and speak to issues that are bothering them as they should. It has nothing to do with Reel Wamps and everybody knows what that issue is right now. And Pauline Peters speaks to it at Sunday meetings.

Reel Wamps sources are the very family members of its detractors. To shut it down would be a disservice to its 3,000-4500 weekly readers.

A little trivia about Reel Wamps. It was cranked up in the spring of 2009 when the Cromwell administration took over. It was a blog and that’s why people still call it”The Blog.” But in  December 2010 it was hacked and it came down. Within a week it was back up as a .com and we have never stopped since.

We invite you to go back through Reel Wamps and see all the information that was given to tribal members. Most of it serious but some of it is hilarious.  All in all it’s actually pretty stunning. It was an information source to help us understand that our tribal government was sidewinding all over the place under a really bad regime. We have paid dearly for it over the 13 years. And Reel Wamps accurately predicted what has happened to us.

Shudder to think what would have happened if we did not keep the information coming.
That said, here we are starting anew with a new administration. We are hopeful.
We’re moving forward on important issues but governing is not a game.  After Cedric and crew, tribal members expect a lot. Governing is one of the worst jobs you can have if you’re not there to serve. You have to deliver, not just pick up a check. Constituents are always mad about something.  You can never keep everyone happy but they will support you if you’re doing the work. They are with you if you are transparent. That  is very very critical. We know that now.
So message to Reel Wamp detractors.  Careful what you say.  You could end up on Reel Wamps.