Reel Wamps

So, if it weren’t so sad it would be funny, but it’s not. Once again the Pow Wow is being undermined by the woefully inadequate treasurer and chairman. It’s so pathetic, we’ll give you the short version.  So the Pow Wow Committee, led by Maddas, Victoria and other capable women, started their work on the

The Alleged Treasurer leaves his buddy Cedric’s federal court hearing years ago with that worried look on his face. The Pow Wow has haunted him since $30k came up missing on his watch in 2008. Deja vu baby. You betta give up the ghost.

project.  First thing they did was ask Bobby (The Alleged Treasurer) for a budget.  He said they had $43k.  Well okay.  With that in mind, they proceed to pull things together. And that’s quite a job.  Dealing with vendors, drummers, dancers, head man & woman dancers, judges, arena directors, EMS, security, the clam bake, fireball, cash registers, advertising and on and on.

The Pow Wow is about two and a half weeks away and they needed answers and money to move forward. They emailed and texted The Alleged Treasurer got no response for days on end. He was ghosting them hard. When they finally cornered him, he confessed the $43K was missing….but get this. The committee raised and deposited an additional $17k and, WAIT FOR IT….that’s gone too!

We’re going to leave that right there; cause we all know what needs to happen.

COMMICAL NEW SPIN….. just to keep you updated. The

Download it and read along. See for yourself. It’s just the Constitution, what do they care?

Child King is circulating new deflecting talking points saying all the officers are responsible for Operations (the collapse of the Tribal government). Once again, he shirked responsibility, empowering himself with oversight of operations. He’s just incapable of doing any work or accepting responsibility. That pesky Resolution 33 did it.  Another unconstitutional action. Violating the Constitution is an obsession with him.  Maybe he should read it.  It defines all the responsibilities of the officers. Operations is supposed to be the VC’s job.  But CK wanted it and here we are.

It’s gettin’ hot in here.

You know, our political history is a barometer of how things go south. It’s pretty remarkable. Here’s where the problem began.  By the early 70’s, the White people started moving into Mashpee.  They already stole and developed New Seabury, heretofore known as South Mashpee, and things started sliding.  They never wanted to come around the rotary down Great Neck Road. But when they ventured in, they took over politically, outnumbered us and began erasing us culturally and politically.  Those of us who say they don’t like politics apparently aren’t living because everything we do is political.  Our relationship with the Creator is the only instance where there is no compromise.

Anyway they never knew what to do or think about us.  Thier deference toward us was short lived. And the racism crept in as usual and never left. So here we are. And any respect for our people or our government has diminished beyond recognition, and we can attribute much of it to The Child King.

We have a Tribal Chairman, who is charged with felonies (sound familiar?) and rumored to be testifying

Popular Mashpee Selectman Steve Peters offers commitment by way of the time-honored handshake with Selectman Leo “Benny” Peters as Selectman Harrison Frye looks on. In our political culture, your word was (is) your bond. It is the only certainty anywhere in the world of politics.

against his cousin in July as part of his plea deal. Philly doesn’t deserve that, and we all know that if that’s the case it could be devastating.  It’s so outrageous, and the way The Child King carried on when he was threatened with council removal was even more disgraceful.  Anyone else would have had the decency to resign to spare us the humiliation. But just like that “other guy,” it’s all about him.

Another quick rewind about our past politics. In the mid ’30’s a Harvard sociologist was researching the governing dynamics of small towns in Massachusetts. Of course, “The Old Indian Towne of Mashpee” received prominence in the report for its remarkable sophistication and foresight. The sociologist said the “Tribal Council hashed out issue differences before the required Town Hall meeting and provided a united front.” They did it that way because state house legislators frequently showed up to spy during the town meetings. That’s called walking in two worlds. We used it for centuries as the primary survival mechanism. And one of our renowned leaders was Steve Peters who leveraged his relationships with Joe Kennedy, the Roosevelt administration and the statehouse power brokers to benefit his people.  That’s how it’s supposed to work for tribal leaders who walk in both worlds.

A rare moment. The chairman in his office. Notice the clean desk. No one ever takes a picture with a desk so immaculate. (sigh…)

Unfortunately, we have none of that with Brian Weeden. The only thing you can count on is that he will be absent from even the most basic events and responsibilities. That is the easiest part of the job.  He has no interest is visiting with members. The Walk of Honor for Mashpee High School graduates for one. An important milestone for Tribal families. The chairman was somewhere else and assigned no one to the ceremony. Now you will recall during his Peter Pan days on the Youth Council he kept extending the age limit, until he qualified to run for Council.  We thought he was gunning for life membership. Everything is a steppingstone for his personal gain.

And once again, serious accusations of racism continue to bubble up at the Mashpee School. As a tribal chairman, and a school committee member, he does nothing.  No investigation nothing. He chimed in via zoom for the horrible, videoed bullying of the young girl who went missing.  That zoom appearance was on point. But he screwed that up too because he kept talking about himself.  Saying ” I’m not hiding, I’m at NCAI.” Obviously, nothing about next steps and preventive measures came out of his mouth. He was hiding or somewhere he shouldn’t have been. Apparently CK ghosted the NCAI conference for days! Much more telling was that the chief of the host tribe for the NCAI conference had an invite only reception. All the players including Aquinnah and Pequot Chairs were there. The Child King was not invited.

So CK and his bestie Lovely Winona were partying down at NCAI while the Tribe burns. We still don’t understand why she was out there. Still in charge of Operations, Brian has failed miserably at running the government. He is oblivious to the need to hire and replace essential managers.  How can you run something you don’t understand? So we haven’t had a Tribal Administrator since October 2023.  But we never had one. Cuno, Brian’s partner in —–, was on paid vacation for 2 years managing nothing.  We have a Comptroller, John Larson, who is Cuno’s boy, collecting $150k a year and can’t produce a budget or the audits needed to keep most of our grants going. If it weren’t for Nelson Andrews, cranking grants we would be on the side of the road with a tin cup. So, for all practical purposes, the comptroller position is vacant. Andrews resigned as Emergency Management Director accepting an important appointment as FEMA liaison to 10 (eastern) tribal nations. Nelson has set a high bar nationally and continues to bring credibility to our tribal brand. The scary thing is that Brian has assigned liaisons Lovely Winona and Bobby to take over Emergency Management, the most self-sufficient department in the Tribe. Can you imagine those two in charge of millions of dollars in

They’re jealousy of Nelson Andrews is so over the top they dispatched Ellen Frye Sharp to spew nonsense about reimbursements. How about finding that $60k that disappeared on your watch “Little Miss Do Not Hire.”

equipment? Boats, generators, trucks and lots of inventory. Ya… nightmarish! We’re still looking for the Pow Wow money Bobby was last seen with. Marita Scott quit to go on to bigger and better things shortly after she tried to fire an incompetent pal of the Child King’s.  So, the HR post is vacant. The Housing Director position is vacant, but thankfully, Corine has done a serious heavy lift serving as Interim Director. Rita Pocknett’s departure, though a BIA position, was another blow because she is a well-liked tribal member who headed Indian Health Services.  But more importantly, she was a council member who often voted against the Child King regime and CK gleefully expedited her replacement with you know who …ahem. Whatta ya expect? He has no plan, no agenda, he has never helped Tribal members, and has no regrets. It empowered his regime reinforced by his Lady in Waiting, Tribal Attorney Rebeka. The tribal attorney tile is dubious to say the least. She works for the Regime.  To review her work ethic warrants a separate post.  We will say one thing.  When the Genting was paying the tab, she hired more outside counsel than Donald Trump. Again, what does she do for $20K a month?  Write resolutions? Advise Brian?  Once again it was about him not us.

So, we have 6 Department head vacancies, and The Child King continues to show his disinterest in doing his job..

More signs of government collapse is the ransom and hacking of the tribal internet/email system. So damned ridiculous. Lotta money wasted there when internal IT had it worked out. Brian’s pal Alex is suspected of having his sticky little hands all over this and paying the bill for his boutique law firm. The irony is that the zoom Council meeting calls had just been restored with heightened security. That was a good move toward transparency. But when Winnie’s meeting came up…The Iron Curtain came down.  Tribal members could not access the Zoom meeting. Only the lawyers.  Again, why all these lawyers? Well, they had a lot to hide.  And a lot of misinformation was spewed.

The Tribe’s right to know is at stake and THE ELDERS HAVE MADE CLEAR THAT THEY FEEL THE TRIBE’S RIGHT TO VOTE IS IN JEPROADY.  The Elders are hard to fool and for that reason Brian plans to try to move the 2025 election to May, in violation of the Constitution. Wellsa boy! Lookin’ for three extra months’ pay hu? That $35k should go to someone who will work for us.

THE GOOD NEWS!!!

US Senators Warren and Marky serve us and confirm our government-to-government relationship. CK needs to learn from his fellow officers and get to work so his vision extends beyond nonsensical “deer farm” budget requests.

We saved the best for last.  Secretary Cassie Jackson and Vice Chairman Carlton Hendricks, Jr continue to do the work. They secured $1million federal appropriations for the Tribal homeless shelter. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Marky worked with Jackson and Hendricks to get it done.  This is the second successful collaboration by the Secretary and Vice Chairman.  The first was securing the $1.6 million to renovate the Parsonage.

Wednesdays Council meeting should be very interesting. If you can attend in person, you probably should.

Who knows when the Iron Curtain will come down again. Who knows.

Well, we have the best leadership talent in the Tribe leaving their posts to take lucrative jobs. Rita Gonsalves

Rebekah has been milking the Tribe for a long time. Mark Tilden left her in charge of the machinery.

or one headed to California to do consulting work for a tribe out there and so she resigned a couple of days ago.  Well, the Child King, in frantic mode decided to call a meeting to replace Rita right away. So his loyal lawyer Rebeka Salguero (who has been on our payroll for $20K a month for 13 years –$3.120 million- for work a law clerk could do) says you have to take the person who came in second. Little discussion.

That would be Winnie.

But here’s the rub. Council members were missing. The Chief and Medicine Man were missing, 2 Council members were missing. Council members were misinformed about holding special election verses moving Winnie into the slot as Rebeka recommended. It was a move CK made while he had the votes and it was the recommendation made by Rebeka….the Child King’s lady in waiting.

Council members were stunned by the rush to vote within a day of the resignation when they could have waited 30 days. So you know what’s happening here.  The Child King is making a mad dash to run the table to hold on to power.

Child King and Winnie are tight.  What do you think is going to happen with her return? The thought is nauseating.  The unpopularity of these two would be a challenge for Christ the King (God Bless).

Council members phones are exploding with livid Tribal members angry about Winnie’s return. She couldn’t win an election if you allowed the red box people to vote.

So….the Child King is filing frivolous charges against people instead of finding a TA, a replacement for Marita Scott in HR and cleaning up finance. Certain expenditures are very very questionable.

No budget, no audits.  Bad Comptroller, and you have a chairman pontificating at “clan mother” ‘meetings justifying adopting competition dancing categories as justification for clan mothers,

Nonsense

More titillating to come

It’s starting to get a little crazy. But it’s no surprise that the guy that does the least claims credit for doing the most. So, following the path of least resistance, the easiest thing to do is to list the things Brian has done. And that would be zero. None the less, he claims credit for tribal benefits he had nothing to do with …ever. Of course, he’s campaigning early. Ahem. But, it’s like a Hail Mary play by a guy who doesn’t understand that acts of desperation never work.

It takes more than skipping around the circle to lead a Tribe. But apparently, we have a chairman who is leading us into crisis once again.

The most ridiculous is claiming credit for the $15 million given to us in the American Rescue Plan Act that included COVID and stimulus money that was AUTOMATIC to every tribe without request. You will recall that as duo citizens, we received another check from both the Tribe and the US government. He had nothing to do with either.

Then the Child King took credit for the land into trust. That is such a good thing but a painful journey for us. It took 15 additional years to conclude. Thankfully it’s over now. A slog bogged down by the incompetence of the Cromwell Administration.  Brian was a loyalist, along with his uncle David, Cedric’s most obedient servant.

He does not fight for the Tribe like a leader. He does not attend meetings that are critical to our financial future or advance long-term strategies.  He will go out of his way to undermine other council members who are working on important projects and brining in millions by spreading rumors and gossip depending on his mood. He uses his position as chairman to threaten and harass tribal members.  He claims his life has been threatened 3 times. So, Tribal police waste time running around “investigating his nonsense” instead of doing their job! Ridiculous.

Another great example of propaganda is content in the newsletter which is now a PR tool. He credited all his cronies for reworking the wind farm deal. This included his uncle Magpie, an even Bobby Foster like it was a team effort. Magpie, who was the lead on the project was so busy lecturing the federal officials on our relationship with the earth, he was clueless that we were getting screwed on the annual payments.  Again, it took Nelson Andrews to raise the issue.  That got us the millions of dollars we deserve instead of a pittance. Andrews bears the brunt of CK’s wrath. While the grant wizard is oblivious, everyone inside and outside the council know it. Brian even whines about being in Reel Wamps. Well, he should do his job. He and his minions work hard to divert attention from his abysmal record.  They are actively circulating rumors that attack any council member bringing in revenues.

Shoring up the Clan Mothers

So Sunday, CK shows up at the Peters family meeting where there was a discussion about issues surrounding the designation of a clan mother. About 15 members (out of over 60) from the Steve Peters line were there.  Missing were 70+ descendants from Charlie “Todd” Peters (Joe, Hazel, Freddie “Sip”) Marion Peters Hendricks – Margie Hendricks Frye (Ca, Donna, Bonnie, Yvonne, Joanne, Buzzy, Ellen), Pete Peters (Gordon, Eddie), and Federick Peters (Putnam, Pauline, Everett).  We stopped counting and still left a lot of people out. It looked like Brian was there representing Katurah but was justifying clan mothers based on the adoption of competition dances from other tribes. Ok, ah… Other tribal families have shown no interest in clan mothers. The good thing was that the family members really enjoyed the discussion and gathering and will do more.

FINANCE DEPARTMENT HAS SERIOUS SERIOUS PROBLEMS…We need answers

Trouble is, CK immerses himself in other people’s business instead of handling his own.  Like the finance department debacle. The combined annual salaries of that department are $500,000.00.  The Comptroller, a Greendeer hire, makes $150K a year and the man can’t complete the 2022, 2023 audits. That interferes with our ability to secure grants.  We haven’t had a budget since 2021 and there’s a reason for that.  Any close scrutiny will reveal a horror story. Horror upon horror.  That’s why we don’t have a budget.

And the Child King is worried about clan mothers

Even his travel buddy Bobby Foster, denies any affiliation with his finance department.  Recently, he told a

When Repo Man became the treasurer by default, you could hear the groans all over town. We have been paying his child support bill for a long long time. At least his kids are getting something.

Lovely Winona, Brian’s dear friend standing by at his beck and call.

Tribal member that he is not responsible for the “no account” crew. He’s the treasurer.  His responsibilities are spelled out in the Constitution!  But you have to remember we’re talking about a guy who relied on a forged GED to get every job he’s ever had with the Tribe. Amazing….. He does absolutely nothing but talk foolishness all day long.

He empowers his buddies like Winona who is not only in finance (without a degree) but is also the liaison to the Public Safety Council…Tribal Police. Right. Confidentially is not her strong suit. As a matter of fact, we don’t know what her strong suit is. Get this, she also has oversight of the Mittark….Winona. No further comment necessary.

He just can’t do it

So at the Sunday Meeting, Shelly Pocknett asked David Weeden, the Historic Preservation Officer (wink wink) why the Meeting house security cameras weren’t up and running. He mumbled around and then blamed it on the vendor being unable to get the ” historic ” poles they are supposed to attached to.  So she asked why he didn’t get a deadline, challenge the contractor or look for another one etc. Well whatever the answer it wasn’t the right one. Another example of paying someone who makes no attempt to do the work on something so important to us.

No we’re not. We didn’t talk about the chairman’s probation because we thought m a y b e he would go to trial.  You may recall that he said he would go to trial and would not take a plea deal.  Well sources say the state refused to reduce the

Brian is trapped in the “NO WORK” zone. He has no understanding of the philosophy to “take care of home first.” Tribal members sneer at his NCAI post based on his lack of leadership record.

charges or offer a deal (he’s on video tape for Christ sakes). So a week after his December 12 (7th) hearing, he was immediately scheduled for a ” probable disposition” hearing which signaled probation.  Yup. The judge said this had gone on for ” too long.” Really? Putting him on probation for a year is the most severe sentence that could be administered because it punishes the Tribe! 

Despite the fact that the felony charges are still in place, he has not been convicted, so he does not face constitutional mandate of automatic removal.  And with that, Brian went on to show us his natural _ss.  He was conspicuously absent from the recent community meeting to discuss critical issues facing the Tribe. The big headliner was security at the cemetery, a very very important discussion. The Chief, Medicine Man, Vice Chairman Hendricks, Council members, Roxanne Mills Brown, Nelson Andrews and even Magpie were there to face Tribal members and be accountable….but Brian never showed. He doesn’t show up to deal with anything. But the meeting was very productive with dialogue involving tribal youth, elders and tribal leaders that resulted in a fix that everyone thinks will help.  It’s a good first step.  But more importantly, the Tribal members and it’s leaders worked together for solutions.

Brian is still in charge of Operations, even though he tried to act like he wasn’t during 2 real public comment blow outs a couple of council meetings ago..another mess that never should have happened.  First, we are in dead of winter and the homeless shelter is unable to open for a million reasons.  One reason is no one can work with Robin Tobey.  She proved that with yet another performance of outrageous personal attacks and threats that Brian refused to stop.  But getting the resources to get the shelter open to capacity is stalled because Brian doesn’t give a damn and has no interest in actually helping tribal members.

That means the Tribe is on the merry-go-round of missed opportunities. The federal government recently gave the state $25 million for homeless shelters. As head of Operations, ya think he is going after some of that money? Course not. Is Brian asking anyone to go after that money? No to that too. Again we’re on the merry-go-round of missed opportunities because Brian thrives on chaos. Some managers utilize that strategy that inspires some level of competitiveness. In this instance it’s nothing like that.  A leader he is not.

Back to Magpie for a minute.  We told you about his failure to get BIA

What happened to you David? Your lack of certification disqualifies you as a THPO officer. You can’t certify grants. Why continue to embarrass the Tribe?

certification as a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. Come to find out, it’s not about filling out the paperwork, he doesn’t have the Masters degree needed to even qualify for the certification.  Matter of fact, he does not have a bachelors degree.

So Magpie is the only paid Council member ($80 k) who is a director who is uniquely unqualified for the job.

Over the next year by the time the next election rolls around on Feb 16, 2025, we will have spent $140k on Brian and $90k on his uncle.

Over their 4 year terms its $845k for The Weedens.  Quite a hustle.

Ain’t it awful Mable?