Okay, people. We all can be a little bit lax when reading what seems to be routine announcements, and legalese can be off-putting, but we need to talk. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that the Council has posted the reasons for the emergency meeting, but I read closely and I have a grave concern. Amended-Mashpee-Notice-of-Emergency-Meeting-to-Be-Held-2-15-13-1
I want to call your attention to the second sentence of the paragraph marked “1.”
“The Tribe has an immediate need to receive funds from and preserve relationships with our gaming opportunity investor, who could be substantially harmed and can place our tribal property and assets at risk if the proposed ordinance is not adopted.” (emphasis mine)
I don’t know about you, but this worries me more than just a little bit. I can understand the part about the Council preserving their paychecks—no matter what —but weren’t we assured that our land and assets were not on the table? How can we know when they have been so secretive about the deal with the Malaysians. Has the Council, or, should I say, Cedric and Co. exposed us to the possibility of being sued for our land and what little we own? Will we lose our housing because it was not excluded as it should have been?
Our Tribe was saved from the 1830 Indian Removal act by Massachusetts Governer Levi Lincoln Jr. (a distant cousin of Abraham Lincoln). Will our governor, president, or the BIA step in to prevent our being removed from our pitifully small land base? God forbid! If the present administration has been so slipshod, or worse, corrupt, maybe we should remember that on the 24th when we vote.
Time to excise the problem.
