Cedric Cromwell: Land-into-trust ruling a threat to sovereignty

Opinion

Cedric Cromwell: Land-into-trust ruling a threat to sovereignty

Posted: Tuesday, July 26, 2011

"As Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, I am charged with assisting my people to recover from nearly four centuries of colonization and neglect. The Wampanoag Nation entered into a treaty with the colonists in 1621. The Mashpee people held their lands through 17th century deeds witnessed by John Alden, with terms that protected the homeland for our people until the Commonwealth of Massachusetts destroyed the reservation by allotting individual parcels that were soon taxed or sold out of tribal hands. Some years later, Massachusetts Senator Dawes took that allotment policy national through the Dawes Act, known as the General Allotment Act, designed to break up tribal communities and culture by eliminating tribal land bases. The policy was effective: we have lost much of our home, and are struggling to preserve our culture and community. But we are still here.

After waiting more than thirty years for the Interior Department to process our petition for federal acknowledgment, the Mashpee Wampanoag are desperately lacking in government services. The Tribe is still underfunded compared to other tribes, and struggles to provide assistance for significant health, housing and educational needs. Our minimal fee land holdings are threatened with local taxation. And we must confront the controversy and impediments posed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. Federal policy and an express federal statute—the Indian Reorganization Amendments of 1994—prohibit unequal treatment of Indian tribes and yet the Carcieri ruling does just that."

Get the Story:
Cedric Cromwell: The ‘Carcieri’ Effect and the Misperceptions it has Caused (Indian Country Today 7/25)

Committee Notice:
Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Legislative Hearing on H.R. 1291, H.R. 1234 and H.R. 1421 (July 12, 2011)

Supreme Court Decision:
Syllabus | Opinion [Thomas] | Concurrence [Breyer] | Dissent [Stevens] | Concurrence/Dissent [Souter]