"For many years it has been the custom of the Mashpee Wampanoag not to speak publicly about our internal tribal problems. We were taught that ''we don't air our dirty laundry 'round here.'' If we had problems, we could handle them just fine among ourselves.

But in recent years, influences outside our tribal environment have dominated our political landscape. Now our secrets have become destructive and divisive, and the tradition of keeping closed-mouthed only serves to shield the problems in our tribal government from the light of day.

So breaking with tradition, many tribal members have now come forward to voice dissatisfaction with tribal leadership at a time when we should be celebrating the realization of a major political goal."

Get the Story:
Paula Peters: Open up the recognition process (The Cape Cod Times 12/7)

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

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