Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe cutting casino backers

Wednesday, February 10, 2010  

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts is reportedly looking to end ties with some of its investors.

A group called AtMashpee invested more than $25 million in the tribe and its federal recognition bid from 1999 to 2006, The Cape Cod Times reported. Two South African casino moguls, known as Trading Cove, were brought into the fold in late 2006 with an intent to build a casino for the tribe.

But tribal leaders are now working with Malaysian investors on the casino. That has Detroit real estate developer Herb Strather, who created AtMashpee, upset over being cut out of the deal.

"This is not expressive of the tribe that met the Mayflower. This is not the same as the tribe that helped Harriet Tubman in the Underground Railroad, that helped the slaves," Strather told the Times. "This is completely a vindictive situation."

The tribe's casino bid has stalled as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. The tribe didn't gain federal recognition until May 2007, past the 1934 cut-off date cited in the decision.

Get the Story:
Mashpee Wampanoag casino deal sours (The Cape Cod Times 2/10)
Middleboro selectmen vote to spend $110,000 in casino planning money (The Brockton Enterprise 2/10)
Casino bill omits Middleboro (The Brockton Enterprise 2/10)