LOBBYING PROBE November 17, 2005, Hearing: Video | Exhibits November 2, 2005, Hearing: Video | Exhibits | Witness List / Testimony

Lobbyists working for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts met several times with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) in 2003 in order to press the tribe's bid for federal recognition.

The tribe says the effort paid off. Dorgan, the top Democrat on the Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittee, added language in a bill that year that urged the Bureau of Indian Affairs to speed up the tribe's case. As part of a court settlement, the BIA eventually agreed to a timeline to consider the petition.

But some tribal members aren't happy that their leaders hired lobbyists from the Greenberg Traurig firm, the former employer of Jack Abramoff. "We feel our petition stands on its own, on our tradition, not because we are paying people off," elder Anita Peters told The Cape Cod Times. She said the tribe voted to follow the BIA's administrative process for recognition, not to seek a legislative solution.

Peters criticized Chairman Glenn Marshall, who hired the firm and made political contributions to Dorgan, for bringing elders into the debate. He asked the Elder Council to pass a resolution in support of his leadership. "He had a piece of paper in his hand and said he'd like to get the support of the elders and put it in the newspaper," an elder who asked not to be named told the paper.

Get the Story:
Another tribal lobbyist tied to kickback probe (The Cape Cod Times 12/3)
E-mail sheds light on dark insider world (The Cape Cod Times 12/4)
Elders back tribe chairman (The Cape Cod Times 12/4)

Relevant Documents:
Summary of Acknowledgment Cases | R. Lee Fleming Declaration

Only on Indianz.Com:
Federal Recognition Database V2.0 (May 2005)

Relevant Links:
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe - http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com

Related Stories:
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe active in Washington (12/1)
Mashpee chair gave Abramoff e-mails to FBI (11/29)
Mashpee chairman happy with Abramoff work (11/22)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe tight on membership (10/11)
BIA assigns team to Mashpee Wampanoag petition (10/3)
Massachusetts tribe, town weigh recognition deal (09/16)
Massachusetts tribe won't make land claims (08/22)
Massachusetts tribe waits for answer on recognition (08/05)
Wampanoag teen joins tribe's Run for Recognition (07/28)
Massachusetts tribe waits for ruling on recognition (7/27)
Judge approves timeline for Mashpee recognition (7/26)
BIA proposes timeline for Mashpee recognition (7/19)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe steers clear of Abramoff (05/23)
Judge blasts BIA for delays in recognition case (02/15)
Wampanoag tribe back to court on recognition bid (2/14)
BIA opposes Pombo's federal recognition bill (2/11)
Bill addresses slow-moving recognition process (02/07)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe presses recognition bid (09/03)
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe rubs elbows at RNC (9/1)
House panel sympathetic to tribes on recognition (04/01)
Federal recognition process subject of two hearings (03/31)
BIA delaying decision on Mass. tribe (12/20)
Mass. town accused of hindering recognition (10/30)
Jump in recognition petitions noted (06/12)
BIA recognition staff fails pressure test (05/31)
Wampanoag leader remembered (03/08)