Paula made a rare appearance at a Council meeting. She began chirping, full of theatrics and complaints. Clearly, she presumed that people actually cared about her whining, since her roommate Mark Harding and the Child King are so cosey…such good friends these days. She’s the messenger for the “boys” don’t cha know.
But her hiding in plain sight made her lambasts disingenuous for sure. She launched into this contrived diatribe about her dissatisfaction with the Council. That they “ain’t doing nothing.” That ” she wasn’t voting for anyone on the Council.” She ticked off issues: no economic development, “we can’t speak the language.” It’s some kind of weird PR campaign for sure. Were’s she been for 15 years? The barricades to progress are her people.
And it’s a diversionary tactic. She and Mark Harding are jam-up-jelly-tight with the Weedens who notoriously have an aversion to work. They are experts at doing nothing and getting paid. By February, CK will have squeezed between $500 k – $560 out of the Tribe according to best estimates. Magpie is still getting paid as the THPO officer, without the required credentials (Bachelors, or Masters degrees). He has milked us for $400k so far. But we really don’t know do we? No budget.
And that’s a lowball guestimate. Magpie refuses to do the most minimal maintenance on the museum, the Meeting House (still not pressure washed, or painted) and bungled the town funding to renovate the Parsonage. He defies chastisement from the chief as does CK.
Paula’s pretty nervy. Complaining that Indian Health Services doesn’t pay her bills. Well hell, she made over $3.5 m off the Mittark. Yeah $3.5 million off a propaganda rag that recently showcased Magpie’s work on the Parsonage. It was pure fantasy. He did nothing. He does nothing. He will do nothing ever! We know Vice Chairman Hendricks and Secretary Jackson went to DC lobbied, worked with US Senators Marky, Warren and Rep Keating to get the $1.6 m (check Reel Wamps April ’23). Remember, the museum was infested with rats and racoons right up until the Sec of the Department of Interior arrived…..he was in Bermuda with Trish and crew partying. The museum is still an absolute disgrace. He wouldn’t pay Anita, probably cause he was too busy paying himself. So she quit. We also know that the Mittark has little news content of use to the core Mashpee. That’s because, Paula is telegraphing to an audience she has groomed for a long long time. They are members with minimal if any contact with the Tribe. They absorb the misinformation like gospel. They are certified outsiders. The fabrication about Magpie was another politicized effort to salvage his February reelection bid.
THE PROLOGUE
Let’s go back to the 2009 election where the nightmare began. Remember Paula and her cousin Trish, orchestrated the election of Cedric Cromwell. That strategy completely undermined all the safeguards in place that protected the integrity of the election process. We will give you the short version. Paula was campaign manager, and Trish was the elections committee chair. From the start, Paula knew Cedric could not win the Mashpee vote. So anxious to redeem herself she pivoted after a series of humiliating personal circumstances.
With federal recognition, our casino prosects triggered hundreds of people trying to get on our Tribal roll. Those were “pending” tribal members. Your lineage could trace back to Massasoit, but the enrollment chances were slim because of numerous criteria check points. It’s a rigorous process, that’s standard in most tribes. The majority of the Casino Stalkers were not going to make it. Not so mysteriously the
“pending” people, were merged on to the election voting list. Paula and her crew supporting Cedric and her roommate (the despised) Mark Harding, phone banked all the “pending” members telling them to come and vote. The Elders were removed from the process. As the election police the Elders literally eyeballed voters and had the authority to remove people who were underage or not identifiable. They knew the Tribal members and families. The guard rails were gone. There were hundreds of pending people who voted. When asked “Who the hell are these people?” Trish said, “I got this.” She really did.
The doctored list, the removal of Elders allowed the Casino Stalkers to vote handing victory to Cedric and Mark who were also outsiders. They had no idea who we were, and it was a horrific 15-year journey. Outsiders gave Paula and Trish entre that they would never receive from the Mashpee.
But the saddest thing was the loss of fellowship surrounding our voting process. It’s been soured for 15 years. Tribal members used to see family and friends and were all smiles.
Tribal members still ask about the status of the disgraced chairman, “What’s going on with Cedric?” He
was convicted of kickbacks and 5 other charges, jeopardized land in trust and owes the Tribe hundreds of thousands of dollars. Three years later he’s still waiting for his appeal to be heard. Ya, Paula’s guy. Trish’s guy, Magpie, Winona, Winnie, and TAT”s guy. These nuts have transferred membership to the Cliff Walkers cult clinging to power with the erratic Child King.
Paula & Trish at it again…
It was the same playbook, same target audience, same end result but this time it was the (Steve) Peters family Clan Mother designation. It became a politicized contest controlled by…wait for it…. the outsiders of the family. These members had minimal contact with the family or the Tribe, let alone fellowship or knowledge of the culture. After several family zoom meetings it was determined that Trish and Gina were the candidates. As the process played out it became clear that the election itself lacked integrity. Greg Mckinney controlled the election that had Keisha and Jaimie, (Trish supporters), accessing and sending ballots out on a Google doc (right). He would not allow Gina’s daughter to participate to even give the appearance of fairness. Nor would he accept Gayle’s recommended election app that was secret and secure. “We’re all set.” Right, they controlled who got ballots via email, saw how people voted and counted the ballots.
Let’s back up for a minute. The whole Clan Mother business was Anita’s idea but did not have cultural legitimacy so never received Tribal support, including the Peters’. And the Elders adamantly resisted their efforts on every front. They tried to pick the Chief when Clan Mothers tradition did not exist. Anyway, Anita was able to restrict the effort to the Steve Peters family. Cutting out Steve’s brother Charlie (“Todd”), eliminated a huge core Mashpee family, immersed in family and Tribal history. That’s Hazel, Joe, Freddie, Eleanor, Stacey and all their kids and grandkids over 18. Though fiercely independent, it’s a good guess that many of them would not have supported Trish. But to her credit, Anita pulled her family (John’ s 7) out when the outsiders took over. It was another blow to Paula’s powerplay. As usual, Paula all but abandoned the project as it lost momentum.
Other problems:
- No definition of ” Clan Mother”
- Abandoned the matriarchal tribal protocols
- A man controlled the process and allowed men to vote
- No basic criteria for duties
- No protection from political exploitation
The candidate contrast was dramatic. The Clan Mothers met every Sunday for 3 years. Sometimes there were only three present for conversations with tribal members and other discussions. It was a forum for listening, learning
, sharing and helping. Gina was at those meetings without fail. She also took time to talk with family members, whose children knew nothing about family history and has a Facebook page that chronicles that legacy.
Trish on the other hand came to 3 meetings. Total. She was thrown out of one because she brought David Weeden to pitch for a campaign endorsement. The 2 other times were also to benefit David. Paula of course only hovers around when she can leverage the Clan Mothers politically. Little success there.
But Trish won reportedly by 7 votes and so now the Outsiders are trying to have a coronation. Not going well. The dates for it have been changed 3 time (Since late August). To show you how inept they are, they tried to get the Chief to preside, and he won’t return the calls. Marla tried to have the event during Ancestors Day last Saturday. That was an absolute no. You know who presides over the Meeting House Committee and Ancestors Day. Marla, you have to be deceased to be an ancestor. Talk about being clueless. And then David went back in to try again. This is the guy who refuses to maintain the Meeting House. Keep on reading the Mittark, ok.
Now Trish did her Clan Mother tour of the of the pow-wow circuit. Blanket dancing in contests brings criticism of dancing for money. That’s what happens when everyone has their own definition of a “Clan Mother.”
Great job girls. The family is divided into 3 factions. John (7children), Anne-Randy-Amelia(part),
Muriel-Clara(2 kids)-Amelia(part)-Russell. The Clan mothers seem to have disbanded since this election debacle. Very few get on the family calls. Trish hasn’t had any meetings probably because she would have to hold them in Newton.