Mayor supports Mashpee Wampanoag land-into-trust application
Monday, August 30, 2010
The mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts, is urging the Interior Department to approve the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe land-into-trust application.
The tribe wants to build a casino on a 300-acre site in the city. Mayor Will Flanagan said the project is important to the area.
"Development of that land that the tribe is seeking to have placed in trust will provide the good jobs that are so desperately needed in this area. In addition, revenue that will be provided to the city through an intergovernmental agreement will allow us to fund the public safety, education and infrastructure projects that are so important to the health of this city and the surrounding region," Flanagan wrote in a letter to Secretary Ken Salazar, The Fall River Herald News reported.
The tribe started the land-into-trust process in August 2007. In February 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.
The decision limits the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. The Mashpees didn't gain formal recognition until May 2007 but the Obama administration is moving forward with all pending applications.
EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: Story taken from www.indianz.com
Of course the Mayor of Fall River wants the casino to go through. This is the town that closed it's airport and turned it into a dump (land fill).
On the other side of the state, in Palmer, the Mohegans are talking of buying the 150 acres they lease, to maybe build a casino. Where are the Mohegans going to get the funds? Owning the land doesn't necessarily mean that the tribe will get a casino. ITS A BIG, BIG GAMBLE. What do you think?
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