The opponents have also argued the tribe's lands in Taunton shouldn't have been included in its reservation because they're some 50 miles from the tribe's home base on Cape Cod and weren't part of the tribe's historical domain. They argue, as they have before, that the tribe wasn't eligible for a reservation because it wasn't an officially recognized tribe in 1934, the year the federal Indian Reorganization Act, which laid the foundation for modern federal Indian policy, became law. Meanwhile, anti-casino residents in Taunton, the city where the Mashpee Wampanoag project is proposed, have asked a Boston federal judge to reopen their legal challenge. We need to learn from our mistakes and proceed with caution.' 'We're back to the drawing board, basically,' said Weeden, who took office in May, in a wide-ranging interview Thursday. And state lawmakers are weighing legislation to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts. The separate Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe has also broken ground on a more modest gambling hall on Martha's Vineyard, though that's been mired in legal uncertainty. Massachusetts currently has three major casinos - MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor and the slot parlor Plainridge Park.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Brian Weeden, who is 29 and is the youngest ever to hold the post, said last month's decision by President Joe Biden's administration to affirm the tribe's reservation and reverse a controversial Trump-era order gives the tribe legal footing to continue pursuing its long standing casino dreams.īut he said tribal leaders also want members to look at the idea with fresh eyes, given how much the landscape for gambling has changed. (Elise Amendola/AP)Īs he begins his first full year in office, the new head of a Massachusetts tribe says he intends to take a cautious approach to gambling while turning attention to social challenges and other economic opportunities for its members. The tribe scored a major victory in its years long battle to preserve its reservation in December 2021, but it doesn't mean the Massachusetts tribe's path to building a resort casino on the sovereign lands has become any clearer. Facebook Email Officials wield shovels, including from third left, Tribal Council member Winnie Johnson Graham, state representative Shaunna O'Connell, and Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye during an official groundbreaking, April 5, 2016, in Taunton, Mass., where the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe hopes to build a resort casino.

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