'Land, heritage and culture protected.' U.S. court sides with Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe satisfies the federal definition of "Indian," as required to qualify the tribe for trust lands.

A group of Taunton residents had tried to convince the judge otherwise.

"The Court finds no substance beneath this puffery," wrote Judge Angel Kelley.

On Feb. 10, Kelley issued a 31-page decision affirming a December 2021 decision by the federal Secretary of the Interior to confirm the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's right to 321 acres of reservation land in Taunton and Mashpee.

"Our ancestors are smiling down on us today. We can rest easy knowing our land, heritage and culture will be protected for future generations," wrote Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Brian Weeden in a letter to tribal members posted to the tribe's website.

In 2022, a group of Taunton residents, including Michelle and David Littlefield, filed a lawsuit challenging the decision, arguing that if the tribe goes through with plans to build a $1 billion casino in East Taunton, it would change and dominate the neighborhood.

The group also said the tribe does not fit the federal definition of "Indian," under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, needed to qualify it for trust lands.

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The secretary's decision to determine the tribe is eligible was reasonable, wrote Kelley.

"The historical record indicates that the Mashpee have had a robust connection to the Designated Lands for over four centuries," she wrote.

The tribe had 2,633 members in 2021, according to the decision.

Weeden could not be reached for comment. In the letter, he wrote that the plaintiffs could appeal, but "it will also fail."

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"This is our land, and it is something that cannot be denied. We will keep moving forward to build a tribal economy with sustainable jobs and prosperity for our people and neighbors," wrote Weeden.

In another statement sent to the Times, Weeden said that although establishment of the tribe's reservation returned just a fraction of the tribe's ancestral territory, "this reservation is crucial to our ability to exercise our sovereign right to self-governance, to preserve our language and culture, and to provide for our people."

"The Tribe looks forward to continuing its friendly and productive relationships with the Town of Mashpee and the City of Taunton, and it thanks the many friends and champions who have supported the Tribe in its long fight for justice," concludes the statement.

Here's why defining the word 'Indian' was important to the case.

In 2015, the Department of Interior under the Obama administration put the land into trust for the tribe.

The Taunton residents challenged the decision, saying the tribe did not fall under the federal government’s definition of “Indian,” and therefore land could not be put into trust on their behalf.

The IRA authorizes the Secretary to take land into trust for people or tribes that meet at least one of the statute's definitions of "Indian."

The definition of “Indian” under the Indian Reorganization Act is: "[1] all persons of Indian descent who are members of any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction, and [2] all persons who are descendants of such members who were, on June 1, 1934, residing within the present boundaries of any Indian reservation, and shall further include [3] all other persons of one-half or more Indian blood," according to the department.

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In 2018, the Trump administration reversed the decision and ordered the land be taken out of trust. However, this decision was vacated by the federal District Court in the District of Columbia, which found it to be unlawful, and turned the matter to the agency.

In 2021, the Department of the Interior — led by Deb Haaland, the first Native American to lead the agency under President Joe Biden's administration — issued its third decision, concluding the tribe was under federal jurisdiction in 1934 and qualified under the IRA's first definition of "Indian."

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The Taunton residents then brought suit to the U.S. District Court, again challenging the decision, with the tribe intervening as defendants. The three parties — the plaintiffs, the tribe, and the secretary — filed instant-cross motions for summary judgment.

The plaintiffs' lead attorney, David J. Apfel of Goodwin Procter, could not be reached for comment.

Oral arguments were presented Jan. 13 before the court took the matter under advisement and issued the Feb. 10 decision.

The judge called out past government action as 'systematic, decades-long' forced assimilation of Indigenous children into white society.

In the most recent decision, the secretary pointed to Mashpee children's attendance at the Carlisle school in southern Pennsylvania to argue that the tribe was under federal jurisdiction in 1934. The first off-reservation boarding school was founded with the mission of removing tribal children from their families and forcing them to adopt Anglo-American culture.

In one instance, the superintendent authorized the amputation of a Mashpee student’s toe. The student's mother was not informed until after the procedure was completed.

But the plaintiffs argued the 2021 decision created a false narrative that misrepresented the historical record. The students went to Carlisle with their parents' voluntary consent, state funds were available to pay for their attendance at the school and a Carlisle School supervisor had discouraged Mashpee students from applying to the school because there were other public Massachusetts schools for them, the plaintiffs argued.

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Kelley dismissed this argument. The federal government took "guardian-like actions" over the tribe, from making healthcare decisions on their behalf to dictating their cultural practices, she wrote, and it was therefore logical for the secretary to see the tribal children's attendance at Carlisle School as indicative of federal jurisdiction.

"The record in this case reveals the government’s systemic, decades-long policy of forcibly dissolving Indigenous tribes and cultures by coercing children to assimilate into what the government defined as “white” society," wrote Kelley. "The Carlisle School, funded by Congress for the purpose of separating Indigenous children from their families and indoctrinating them in accordance with the government’s policy, was an essential component of this system."

The plaintiffs also argued that prior case law is inconsistent with the decision's conclusion; that the various record evidence considered by the secretary was not legally sufficient to prove anything; and that the secretary's creation of a reservation made up of two noncontiguous parcels of land is unlawful.

But Kelley dismissed these arguments, saying none of this succeeded in proving that the secretary's conclusion was "arbitrary and capricious."

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: U.S. judge affirms Wampanoag Tribe's right to Taunton, Mashpee land