"It was with great interest that I read Harold Monteau’s editorial, “Regarding Gaming Compacts and Their ‘Illusory Exclusivity,’” in which he criticized the tribal-state compact reached between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Our tribe was re-acknowledged by the federal government in 2007 after hundreds of years of struggles that, while familiar to many tribes, were unique to our tribal nation. Through early exposure to European explorers and settlers, warfare and slavery, brutality and broken promises, the loss of our land and attempts to exterminate our culture, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe persevered.

Now, after a 35-year federal recognition process, we are working diligently to provide for our tribal citizens, which will only be possible with economic self-sufficiency. This includes our successful fight to have our sovereign rights respected in the Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act and the negotiation of a tribal-state compact to allow Class III gaming."

Get the Story:
Chairman Cedric Cromwell: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Responds to Harold Monteau’s Column on Gaming Compacts (Indian Country Today 9/22)

Related Stories:
Harold Monteau: Mashpee Wampanoag compact is worst ever (9/21)
State asks court to wait for BIA answer on Wampanoag pact (9/21)