A sad day for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
Cedric was convicted in May of 3 counts of accepting bribes from contractors on the First Light Casino that was never built. The jury also found him guilty of extortion under the color of an official and conspiracy to commit extortion.
If you don’t know Mashpee history, you should check it out. Talk to your parents and grandparents. Identity builds strength.
Well, Genting is doing their thing….Their company RW BET MA, LLC (Resorts World Bet) is on the list of gaming companies vying for one of 7 lucrative online sports betting licenses from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. That’s right. Genting is going for the sports betting gaming license. So are a bunch of out of state Tribes…The Seminoles, the Sioux, the Mohegan, but not the Mashpee Wampanoag. If you don’t understand this neither do we.
But we do know. There is not a damned thing that happens in this Tribe that does not benefit Genting.
Even if Genting were fronting for us, all the money would go to ….wait for it….to them or to pay off the debt.
But supposedly there’s a “deal” brewing. But Genting is still in charge in the statehouse and the Congress. We are on a leash.
THE TA
The ole boy got called on the carpet for not doing his job, by a council officer and Tribal professionals keep asking ” what’s he doing?” So after 90 days without staff meetings…he has one that’s weird and unproductive with 30, 60 and 90 day staff production deadlines. He’s probably working on other things that could be helpful but hasn’t produced anything yet.
ALEX the Rodriquez may have weaseled his way on to the Tribal payroll after all. So much for transparency.
The Council meeting was productive, and Quahog Pie will give you his opinion.
Andrews seen in this FEMA cover photo, brings pride to the Tribe for his national role in the war on climate change. He is also the Co-Chair of the United South & Eastern Tribes Homeland Security & Emergency Services Committee.
Councilman and Tribal Emergency Management Director Nelson Andrews continues to play on the national stage in his work to help craft the Indian Country strategy via a federal government partnership to combat climate change. The effort comes on the heels of the passage of the Democrat’s massive Inflation Reduction Act legislation which includes the climate change regulations environmentalist and Democrats have struggled to pass for 30 years. Andrews represents Indian Country in drafting the plan for climate resilience. ” We are all part of the future of the planet’s climate through the whole of the community and hazard mitigation. A shared goal of resiliency can be achieved for a sustainable future for seven generations,” Andrews said.
Nelson and Talia Landry, the head of the CDC also launched the solar grant project which is impressive. They also incorporated the CDC which is another important step in the 8A realm, even though we have to wait 2 years to activate contracts. But the focus on tribal member enterprise is not where it needs to be. We have many tribal members who have talent that could make them a sizable income. A number of ladies and men in the tribe are excellent artists and craftsmen who could grow their businesses with the help of the millions of dollars made available by the Inflation Reduction Act legislation and resources at the BIA. Here’s some of the IRA allocations we can use.
We should have had a fish market years ago. Enhancing a hatchery would obviously be a great asset. Of
Tribal members must know what program resources are available to establish & grow their businesses.
course, Genting is still our DC lobbyist, and overseer and they aren’t interested in keeping us informed of opportunities. A simple evaluation of new revenue sources in a huge bill like this one is pretty standard. The Biden Administration and the Democrats continue to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into new businesses opportunities for Native America. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board at the BIA promotes American Indian and Alaska Natives (Indian) businesses through the expansion of the Indian arts and crafts market. One of these programs is the online Source Directory of American Indian and Alaska Native Owned and Operated Arts and Crafts Businesses, which is a great resource for people looking to buy authentic Indian art and for artists interested in a free business listing. Again, our craftsmen and women should be making their wares and selling them at the museum. It’s basic economics. The Tribe through the CDC should be helping them launch their businesses. With expertise comes more responsibility and sadly we grudgingly seek out the expertise of many Tribal members who can help expedite our economic development.
Harding’s wetu. Ahem. “Photo Op Wamps” cash in at the Sandwich Heritage Museum. They weren’t the only ones working the festival this summer.
Now there are also all the “Photo Op Wamps” scoffing up the doe all over the place cause they make a living doing it. That would be Mark Harding and his partner Paula Peters. Harding, the guy least likely to know anything about building a wetu got $50K to build a wetu and a longhouse at the Sandwich Heritage Museum. You can’t be mad at ’em…they know where to look and have the relationships with the Sandwich folks who have stolen our land and degraded us since time and memoriam. They were so treacherous, Mr. Eddie Amos used to say, ” If you’re going to Sandwich you betta bring your box.” The box was a coffin.
We have access to $100 m in reparations from Harvard that we have yet to access. It doesn’t make sense. Harvard acknowledges wronging us and we have done nothing to get the money for future generations.
The Good News
The Tribe got $1.6m in federal dollars to restore the Parsonage. Vice Chairman Carlton Hendricks, Jr. has worked for over 8 years to finish the project.
Foster could be Treasurer if the court validates Marie’s removal and denies a special election.
Marie Stone files in Tribal Court….delaying advisory opinion on Special Election
Marie Stone challenged her removal from office as Treasurer through a filing in Tribal Court. Prior to her challenge, the Tribal Council asked the court for an advisory opinion on the ability to hold a special election to fill the seat. The court denied the request until it resolves Stone’s challenge. If the court denies the special election action, Bobby Foster would become the Treasurer because he came in second. Ahem.
The Tribal Council has asked the Tribal Court for an advisory opinion on holding a special election to fill the potential Treasurer vacancy. Marie Stone requested documents from the Council hearing where she was removed three weeks ago. She has yet to file suit. The Council is not waiting for her to make up her mind.
Creative, cost saving, energy efficient, environmentally sound solar canopies part of the Trbes’ move forward. CDC gets the credit.
The Tribal Community Development Corporation presented a solar energy project that it has been working on for a while. It was well received and quite innovative in concept and design. The first to benefit are the residents in tribal housing. and tree based solar canopies would become part of the parking lots generating energy for the government center. There’s a little more to fine tune before the project is back next week.
Ojibwe Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan was the
Flanagan’s Republican opponent says she
“savaged” him by denouncing his position against abortion when a woman is raped.
target of a racial slur when her Republican opponent called her a “savage.” Matt Birk is the culprit. He was addressing a Right to Life group and commented that “two wrongs don’t make a right,” when justifying abortion in cases of rape. Flanagan said Birk’s position “denies survivors the choice to end their pregnancy and force them to live the lives their rapists chose for them rather than ones they wanted for themselves.” On Twitter Birk said Flanagan tried to ” “savage” him for his remarks. He reluctantly apologized later. Flanagan is a citizen of White Earth Band of Ojibwe.
Native nations are supporting legislation to legalize and decriminalize cannabis in the United States. The bill was introduced in the US Senate Finance Commitee by Majority Leader Chuck Shumer and other leaders. It is designed to bring uniformity to cannabis regulation nationwide. “The ultimate goal of this historic plant medicine legislation is the ability of our native people to choose their own path and thus their own future without interference by the states,” William Snell, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, said. The legislation provides extensive grants, and funding for enforcement, healthcare education and a long list of guidelines designed to regulate a huge new industry.
The 6 tribes of the Chippawa Nation will decide whether to stick with blood quantum enrollment.
Minnesota Chippawa removes blood quantum enrollment requirement. Since 1961, children had to have 1/4 Chippawa blood to be enrolled. The approval of the nonbinding referendum that allows the 6 tribes of that nation to decide if they want to lift that blood qualifier. Blood quantum tribal rolls are declining as is the Chippawa. They will now decide whether stick with blood quantum, go back to direct lineage to the original rolls were calculated after the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.The federal government required the quantum measurement for tribes to receive services.
The Tribe is putting out a weekly newsletter which is good. So how do we get it to Elders? They don’t fool with the internet. They have their own news service. Second question. What is the Mittark good for? Slick and full of department reports compiled by department heads pretty much. They get paid nearly $100k a year to talk about those grants and a lot of stuff that doesn’t help anyone. No comments from tribal members who have concerns about our problems with a multitude of issues…, overdoses, housing, employment. Ignoring problems doesn’t make them go away.
ABOUT MARIE STONE
Marie Stone has requested documentation from the hearing resulting in her removal. It signals that she may file suit in Tribal Court. There is a short time frame for that. Meanwhile the Tribe must prepare for a special election which is up to the Elections Committee Chair Robin Tobey Stamps. She is out for a few more weeks and should be back to work soon.
Stay tuned.
The young chairman handled an extremely difficult decision by confronting a problem involving a close friend. He won respect by putting the Tribe first.
Council members were determined but not very happy about what they had to do. The detail of Marie’s misbehavior was sad and tedious. But it left no doubt about the charges she faced and the overwhelming support for her removal as tribal treasurer. The charges were malfeasance and non-feasance, which is abuse of authority and wrongdoing by an elected official. There were 5 counts for malfeasance starting with the curse laden email, 2 being unauthorized use of the American Express Card with 11 charges, count 3, the loss of financial consultants who were unable to work with her and the abusive behavior toward financial staff and finally abandonment of duties. For non-feasance there were many issues including no tax return, failure to pay TERO vendors, never filed the ARBA (which was payments to tribal members among others) and abandonment of her duties.
The motion to expel Marie Stone received the seven votes necessary but not before Councilwoman Winnie Johnson left the meeting prior to that vote. At this point the Council vote to expel Marie Stone is subject to tribal court review if Marie Stone choses to appeal.
Some good news the Council adopted the Code of Conduct put together by Councilwoman Rita Pocknett and moved forward with the purchase of Del Sol. Both are significant to good government and address a serious problem that is killing our people.
Dasia Peters hands the crown to her cousin Amiyah Peters who will reign until next year’s Pow Wow.
The Pow Wow Princess legacy lives on in the Peters (Costa) family lead by brothers Jermaine (AKA “Quahog”)( & Christine) and Randy III. Jermaine’s beautiful Dasia gave up the crown to her cousin Amiyah (2022-2023) the daughter of Randy, whose sisters Chenoa and Ketura wore the crown previously. Amiya performed a lovely traditional blanket dance for her exhibition.
The ladies maternal great-grandmother Natalie Costa is a much loved Elder of one of the Mashpee Wampanoag’s oldest families, the Cowets. They are smart, talented and beautiful representatives of our people. Good luck Amiyah!
SHOWS ABOUT NDN’S YOU GOTTA WATCH
People are fascinated with Native Americans and for the first time in decades a slew of TV series and movies produced with Native actors by Natives and are digging into what that Native Life is for real.
Dark Winds—Is an excellent mystery suspense with an all-Native cast on a Navajo
Walking in two worlds is tough as depicted in Dark Winds a well-produced mystery revealing the difficult life on a desolate Navajo reservation in the 70’s.
reservation centered around a small tribal police force trying to resolve murder robbery that heaps tribal revenge on the “colonizing demons,” spells, the FBI and all the social problems Native people experience in the workplace and at home.
AMC Sunday 9pm
Dreaming of ways to get off the reservation while trying to deal with the crazies surrounding you.
Reservation Dogs- Oklahoma reservation this comedy is full of characters found in every tribe. It centers on a crew of diverse hustling young Natives with big dreams that are hard to fulfill. Watch for the ghost …the funniest guy in the show. Catch up on Season 1 on Hulu or FX.
HULU Season 2 — August 3
RUTHERFORD FALLS--A comedy that closely resembles us in that the tribe is in northern New York,
Rutherford Falls has everything! even PretendYins
still lives on their land surrounded by Whites. Their reservation and government are functioning ” the Indian way.” Unlike us they have a casino and they’re branching out with a marijuana business, lots of land to give away and a cultural center etc. It also has a transgender Native character. Maybe we can learn something. It is funny. Got a new word for those nuts we run into all the time...”PRETENDYINS”
Catch up on the 2 seasons on Peacock
We could make millions on a Mashpee show. We wouldn’t have to make anything up.
Reel Wamps sources are the very family members of its detractors. To shut it down would be a disservice to its 3,000-4500 weekly readers.
A little trivia about Reel Wamps. It was cranked up in the spring of 2009 when the Cromwell administration took over. It was a blog and that’s why people still call it”The Blog.” But in December 2010 it was hacked and it came down. Within a week it was back up as a .com and we have never stopped since.
We invite you to go back through Reel Wamps and see all the information that was given to tribal members. Most of it serious but some of it is hilarious. All in all it’s actually pretty stunning. It was an information source to help us understand that our tribal government was sidewinding all over the place under a really bad regime. We have paid dearly for it over the 13 years. And Reel Wamps accurately predicted what has happened to us.
Council Meeting
The Old Indian Church Cemetery is the resting place for ancestors who deserve better. Rosalie Newcomb is right.
Since the Mittark continues to be very selective about what they print…we thought we would talk about some Council activity that people actually care about….since few people read the Mittark anyway.
Everyone complains about the bad activity going on at the cemetery. Rosalie Newcomb is always reminding Council about what goes on over there in plain sight. Thank you Rosalie.
Her points:
All true Rosalie.
So she was told there would be a follow up with the Tribal Administrator. Ahem…
Ok so the Tribal Administrator is someone nobody sees. The last time he actually took action was a couple of months ago
“The Floater” —Bobby’s wherever he wants to be whenever. A true Mashpee Wampanoag “Phenom.”
when he said that employees could take 2 hours off a day and fish. And that didn’t include the lunch hour either. That little faux pas was quashed within hours by a council member….. as she laughed all the way back to her office. No one could figure out what the hell he was thinking because it was so outrageous. As for reigning in the notorious Repo Man (AKA Bobby Foster) that could be tough since he’s been spotted touring Mashpee in a new ride…a Jaguar. Boby’s trifling ways are part of his incredible legacy….he’s held every job at the Council and never hit a lick.
The Code of Conduct should be implemented in a month.
The language program will be brought under the Tribe which has been long awaited. There is a $276K deficit because of a lapsed grant. The Tribe will pay the bill and be reimbursed when the grant is restored.
Champion builders should complete the second phase of the housing project in 140 days. The company gets high marks for quality work but the Tribe is still negotiating to secure the bonding. Right now there is a 10% hold back of funds as opposed to a bond.
Rita is a talented professional. We’re lucky she’s on the Council and leading IHS.
Council Member Recognition
On May 18th Council members Rita Pocknett and Nelson Andrews received the Unsung Heroes
Nelson brings us national recognition. Positive press is good.
Award from the Mashpee Chamber of Commerce. Needless to say, that’s a good thing. Both council members hold important posts in the Tribal government that play important roles in maintaining good quality of life in our community. Our Indian Health Services department provides excellent service to tribal members and is a constant source of innovation and administrative efficiency that benefits the Tribe thanks to Rita. Nelson’s management and expansion of tribal Emergency Management is recognized and cited in Indian Country as an example of a well-run program. He’s called upon to present as an expert on tribal emergency management for FEMA and NCAI. Nelson constantly seeks out revenue sources and grants to self fund his department. He recently brought more distinction to Tribe when the MWT was the only Native Nation participating in the AmeriCorps/CDC initiative that will recruit, train, and develop future physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals in the public health sphere.
Good stuff to have our leaders recognized locally and nationally. We need to say thanks too.
FIELD DAY IS BACK Get the KIDS OVER THERE!
Lots going on….. don’t miss it!
Herrin’s been waiting for the TA to get to work. He’s been waiting and waiting and waiting.
Herrin’: “So I been watchin’ an waitin’, waitin’ an watchin’.’.
Roe: ” For what?”
Herrin‘: ” Action…. For the magic brilliance to be waved over the Council staff and workers in the building. You know from the Tribal Administrator. The Cujo dude. He’s a member of the Coeur D’ Alene Tribe.
Roe: ” Wrong…his name is Cuno…Cujo is a rabid dog in a Stephen King book. And he’s a Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin not a Coeur D’Alene. The Coeur D’Alene they’re mostly in Washington state. Man….Cujo are you kiddin’ me?”
The alleged TA David Greendeer who moniker is Cuno has been renamed Cujo…welcome to Mashpee.
Herrin‘; ” Well that’s what they call him, Cujo…don’t know nothin’ about no Cuno. Besides, Coeur D’Alene sounds musical. They’re some cool people.”
Roe: ” He’s a Ho-Chunk. They got a bunch of small businesses and six casinos.”
Herrin‘: ” If his people are doing so well, why ain’t he there with them?”
Roe: “Well that’s a good question no one can seem to answer, fully, but he married Danielle Hill and has a family….but he’s got kids with his first wife and visits them in Wisconsin one week outta each month.”
Herrin’: “That’s a hell of a deal…that amounts to 3 months out of the year he’s in Wisconsin.”
Roe: “With a big fat paycheck of 140k a year. He hasn’t had a staff meeting in 7 weeks, There’s no strategic plan for the Council. He hasn’t turned in reports requested by Council members and I here he shows up when he gets damned good and ready.”
Herrin’:” Pretty much.”
Roe: ” Well, they say he’s busy, awful busy on other fronts if you know what I mean….you know, he gets around. And quite a bit.”
Herrin’ :” Well we’ll know soon enough. There are no secrets in Mashpee.”
