Tonight’s Tribal Council meeting was a sequence of screaming matches lead by a large group of over 50 tribal fishermen who declared war on the outsiders who signed away our aboriginal fishing rights in the “Crappy Compact.” Curtis Hendricks and and other Mashpee who earn a living or feed their families in the old way denounced the travesty…..loudly and clearly. “We have the right to hunt and fish all over the country….why would you negotiate that away?” they asked. “When have you ever hunted or fished? they asked chief negotiator Aaron Tobey.
Everyone knows the closest Aaron came to actually hunting or fishing was when he caught a bee sting and almost died from the allergic
Heritage negotiated away
reaction. Back to the “Crappy Compact.” So after 21/2 hours of fierce assault and a lot of f bombs Cedric said he ” didn’t know everyone was so passionate about the issue.” Course not Cedric, course not. They don’t teach you about fishing or hunting at Roxbury Community College, or in the IT cubicle at Fidelity or on the streets of Dorchester.
If you are not Mashpee…which Cedric is not, nor Aaron, or Mark Harding, then you would not understand the importance of being able to fish and hunt on your ancestral land. It’s bad enough that they stole our land from us. Now according to the ” Crappy Compact” the state is the high authority dictating how we exercise our aboriginal rights. It’s so absurd, it’s not worth talking about. It is degrading and it violates federal law. The tribal lawyer said they would do a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding)to make it right. ” The deal is done and being finalized an MOU won’t fix shi-,” according to Carlton Hendricks Jr. Hendricks is the only one who voted against the 60 page “Crappy Compact.”
So the “Crappy Compact” violates federal law and the damned fool negotiated the worst compact in the country. But we warned that this would happen. Who the hell would believe that we have these people negotiating anything on our behalf ? Its a horror story that never ends.
And it does go to heart of our identity because hunting and fishing is the only thing we HAD left.
Duval Patrick knew exactly what he was doing when he cut this deal with members of this illegal government. He didn’t have to worry about a thing because he knew the caliber of the people he was dealing with. Stupid, desperate, scavengers.
