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Heated words traded over
casino lawsuit
- The court showdown hasn't happened yet, but the war of words between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and East Taunton residents attempting to block an Indian casino is in full swing.
By George Brennan
Posted Feb. 13, 2016 at 11:32 AM
The court showdown hasn’t happened yet, but the war of words between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and East Taunton residents attempting to block an Indian casino is in full swing.
Neighbors filed suit last week in U.S. District Court in Boston against the U.S. Deptartment of the Interior, which approved taking 151 acres in Taunton and 170 acres in Mashpee into trust as the tribe’s initial reservation. The decision paves the way for the tribe's planned casino, Project First Light in Taunton.
The tribe is accusing Michelle Littlefield - the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the tribe's ability to open the casino - of being affiliated with a group known as Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, a national group considered by Native Americans to be anti-Indian because of its stance on federal laws surrounding the relationship between the United States and tribes.
“Members of the anti-Tribe East Taunton group have ties to the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance (CERA), a well-known organization that fights tribes all across the country over issues involving land acquisition and federal Indian policy,” tribe leaders wrote in a statement criticizing the lawsuit. “According to Indian Country today, CERA and its sister, Citizens Equal Rights Foundation (CERF), are the foremost anti-sovereignty, anti-treaty organizations in the U.S. anti-Indian movement. CERA’s website indicates they are active in 15 states and Canada.’”
CERA has been described by Native American and human rights organizations as a group motivated by racism. On its website, CERA argues the word racism is misused.
Littlefield denied having ties to the group, though she acknowledged helping to set up a forum offered by the organization at a Taunton church in 2013.
“They wanted to have a conference here and asked if we would host it,” she said. “We’re all about learning everything we can learn about the tribal process. They spoke. They told stories about what happened in other parts of the country… They were gracious about sharing information.”
None of the neighbors suing the federal government is a member of CERA and the organization has not donated to the legal fund being used to pay for the lawsuit, Littlefield wrote in a follow up email.
“It would seem more productive if the tribe would avoid attacks on the private citizens and their representatives for exercising their constitutional rights to redress their grievances against the government in the courts,” Littlefield wrote. “Filing legal action is our right, and to insinuate some baseless and nefarious motivation for doing so deflects from the actual issues in this action: namely that the (record of decision) is hopelessly and irretrievably flawed and in contravention of law.”
The tribe has faced opposition from CERA previously. In 2007, with its sights set on Middleboro for a casino, Carol Kelley, a Plymouth resident who is listed as the organization’s vice president, spoke out against the tribe’s efforts. She has also written letters to the editor opposing the Mashpee tribe’s land applications.
Kelley could not be reached for comment.
In their statement, tribe leaders again went after Neil Bluhm, owner of Rush Street Gaming and the backer of Mass Gaming & Entertainment, and the financial assistance he’s giving to the East Taunton case. Bluhm is hoping to build a $677 million casino in Brockton and the lawsuit comes just as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is focusing its attention on whether to license the casino, which would be about 20 miles from the one proposed by the tribe.
The commission is on pace to make a decision March 31.
“Clearly, Mass Gaming & Entertainment and Neil Bluhm are taking the low road here. That may be the way they do things in Chicago, but here in Massachusetts state officials have taken great strides in respecting the rights of all Native Americans,” tribal council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a prepared statement.
The tribe looks forward to working closely with the Justice Department to “vigorously defend our land and sovereignty,” Cromwell said.
Bluhm “has no affiliation with CERA, nor has he had any contact with CERA,” Mass Gaming spokeswoman Kristen Cullen said.
Ultimately, a Brockton casino would make the most money for the state and a Taunton casino the least, Cullen said.
“It’s a risk. There’s a good chance this land in trust decision is overturned,” she said. “The East Taunton residents have a strong case and it’s important to remember a Brockton casino will bring significant revenue to the state.”
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20160213/NEWS/160219720/101061/NEWSLETTER100
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