Monthly Archives: April 2023

A Council Meeting to watch

April 26, 2023

You have to laugh when people get out “over their skis.”

Tonight’s Council meeting will be full of action. Some playing out for the Tribal public and some in Executive Session. You need to pay attention. Last month a lot of moves were being made that raised eyebrows. Personnel problems that have been ongoing and of course the budget, that is also getting squared away.

The issue of the Clan Mothers vs Elders in the Raising of the Chief seemed to be resolved at the Sunday meeting with the Constitution (and the Recognition documents) providing the guidance through a resolution finalizing the process.

Preserving all aspects of our Tribal history is important.

Keep an eye on those resolutions…

Good news.  The Parsonage funding of $1.6 million came through which means historic renovation and jobs. Again, thanks Vice Chairman Hendricks and Secretary Jackson for their hard work. This building is on the state historic register.

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Protect the Tribal Constitution

April 17, 2023

For the third time this year, the Constitution came up. Revising the Constitution. That means changing it. Substantially.  Of course, David Weeden is leading the charge.  He is actually supported by someone who helped construct the Constitution in the early 2000’s, and chronically complains about it.  It’s a small core of people but they’re devoted.

Here’s the thing.  A Constitution is the foundation and framework for Tribal governance. It sets the boundaries, in stone.  Well, you know what happens when the foundation or the framework is disturbed in any way.  The house eventually falls apart. Chaos for sure.

So David Weeden said he’s putting together a committee set up to start diddling with the Constitution. You can bet the goal is to shift power around.  There’s a bunch of other ulterior motive stuff going on. It’s tough to alter the Constitution and it’s set up that way for just this kind of situation. But let’s back up for a minute.

Revising the Constitution is a move that automatically sets off alarms. And rightfully so.

When Da Magpie bought it up a few months ago. The legal counsel including a Tribal member who is an attorney, advised that they needed to correct all the ordinances that conflict with the Constitution.  There are hundreds to comb through.  One of them was defeated a month ago where the chairman would assume the vice chairman’s administrative responsibilities.  This you will recall was based on one of those bogus actions (executive order) by Cedric Cromwell. Let’s be clear, Victoria and Rebecca are going through all those conflicting ordinances that were passed while Cedric was Chairman. David and the crew went right along. The horror of that administration lives in those illegal ordinances that Da Magpie approved.

So putting the cart before the horse to make the Constitution conform to ordinances is not in our best interest.

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More stuff ….copyright and the Red Box

April 16, 2023

So the Council meeting was a full agenda.  A major move forward is the plan to

It’s bad enough that New Seabury was built on what we considered our land, but to name it after  one of our heroes is beyond ironic.

establish a living tribal village designed to present a true picture of how we lived 400 years ago. The grant for $175K will launch the project that could be located near the farm. Talia Landry and Councilman Nelson Andrews are spearheading the effort. The idea of presenting our traditions and heritage to the world as we see it has been discussed for over a decade. Now it’s coming to fruition.

The copyright of our mystical hero Maushop tells you the value and limits of ownership of branding (Maushop Village) and intellectual property.

There’s one potential problem. Naming it Maushop Village might not work because New Seabury probably has the development copyright named after our mythical hero.  Which brings us to the language copyright controversy. There was a joint meeting between the town and Tribal Elders over a project honoring Tribal veterans. The group wanted to use the Wampanoag language to inscribe a message on a plaque. The town representative said they had to check with Jessie Baird to get permission. Right. To avoid copyright infringement is what it’s called. So Jessie owns the copyright to our language that is thousands of years old? What do you think? So did Jessie write our language and copyright it?

Okay, to be clear, copyright means you own the intellectual property that you created.

Jessie has used the Tribe to get millions of dollars in language grants while her cousin Cedric was Chairman. We may never know what went on. Are the Weedens far behind?

People, corporations, governments copyright music, books, logos, brands, but languages…no. Jessie is scamming again circulating misinformation because people really don’t know how that works. She has never told us where she got her undergraduate degree, so she could not acquire a masters, and she lied about having a doctorate.

Jessie is still working to get back into the tribal structure anyway she can.  She had the nerve to try to get on the enrollment committee.  Ahem.  That didn’t work.  She made it on to the pow wow committee.  All in all she earned a new name of “Little Red Box.” Her legacy of adding hundreds of people to the roll from the Red Box. Ask her about the Red Box.

More on what constitution revision really means.  You will be shocked. It’s coming your way.

 

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Clan Mothers….Elders? Let the Tribe decide

April 13, 2023

The Chief was our Traditional leader before and after recognition.. Hopefully the process of finding his successor will be a smooth one.

The passing of Tribal Chief Vernon ” Bunny” Lopez brought hundreds of Tribal members to the Old Indian Meeting House to tribute the Centurian. Lopes was the last chief chosen to be the traditional leader prior to recognition and remained it the chair for another 16 years.  At the Council meeting the primary discussion concerned ” Raising the Chief” to replace Lopez. The question of who would lead the selection process bubbled up again several months ago when Paula Peters announced that the Clan Mothers would hold a gathering on May 6 for Tribal members to talk with those interested in assuming the role.

Councilman Domingo Texiera questioned how the Tribe should proceed in the Chief selection.

Roxanne asked what everyone wants to know…Since when are the Clan Mothers in charge?

Councilman David Weeden defended the Clan Mothers leading the process saying they were “welcoming” to the Elders and others who wanted to participate. But Councilwoman Roxane Mills Brown addressed the real issue saying, ” No one gave the Clan Mothers the authority to call the meeting. Also, there are questions about the role of the Clan Mothers in the Tribe. Clan mothers are not in the Constitution.”

Former Councilman Aaron Tobey who is chairman of the Elders said, ” The Elders should be able to provide information on the process.” He added that the Tribal Constitution does say that the Chief shall be selected by the general body according to Tribal custom and tradition.  According to Tobey the Constitution also says that everything in that process is confirmed by a resolution by the Council.

Of course, Da Magpie said, “The process should not be political.”  Well, let’s just violate the Constitution then.  Brilliant.

So, the Council decided to let Tribal members hash it out at the General Body Meeting this Sunday.

More on the rest of the meeting tomorrow.

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