Tired of waiting for an answer on its federal recognition petition, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts hired lawyers and lobbyists to fight the case, an effort that appears to have paid off.
The tribe hired lawyers who took the Bureau of Indian Affairs to court to force the agency to make a decision on its petition. A federal judge agreed to impose a timeline but when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision in August 2003, the tribe hired lobbyists at Jack Abramoff's firm.
Within two months of bringing on Greenberg Traurig, the tribe saw results. In October 2003, at least seven lawmakers from both parties wrote letters to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, urging her to speed up review of the petition, The Cape Cod Times reported. The same lawmakers received campaign contributions from Abramoff, his associates, the tribe and the tribe's financial backer, the paper said.
Chairman Glenn Marshall has defended the use of lobbyists and says the tribe, unlike others who hired Abramoff, was not defrauded. The BIA is now set to make a preliminary determination on the tribe at the end of March.
Get the Story:
Tribal lobbying produced results
(The Cape Cod Times 2/21)
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 elders pass before recognition
(2/20)
Mashpee Wampanoags
await word on federal status (01/13)
Massachusetts tribe says scandal won't hurt
case (01/05)
Mashpees call for tribe to
cut ties to lobbyists (12/21)
Opinion:
Mashpees disturbed by tribal lobbying (12/07)
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)
Mashpee Wampanoag lobbying paid off in Washington
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'