The federal government on Friday accepted the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's application for reservation status.
Tribal and city officials are touting the economic benefits of a $500 million resort casino that the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe hopes to build in the city of Taunton, Massachusetts, 40 miles south of Boston.
Taunton Mayor Thomas Hoye said Monday that the casino project would mean at least $8 million annually for the city as well as bring an estimated $30 million in traffic-related improvements.
MashpeeWampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said it's hoped the casino project will start next spring. From WBUR:
With a goal of breaking ground in the spring, [Cromwell] says there’s a lot of work to get done this winter. “Setting things up, site clearing, you name it,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. I pointed out earlier that we haven’t just been sitting on our hands, there’s been a lot of proprietary work going on behind the scenes.”
Dozens of members of the federally-recognized, Cape Cod-based tribe then visited the future site of the casino in a nearby business and industrial park.
In nearby Tiverton, Rhode Island -- south of Taunton and near Rhode Island's border with Massachusetts -- Twin River Casino officials said the tribe's plans to build a casino will not affect their plan to build a "convenience casino" that could replace the Newport Grand.
The federal government on Friday accepted the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's application for reservation status for 150 acres of land in Mashpee and 150 acres in Taunton, ending years of uncertainty for the tribe.
In a press release on Friday, Cromwell said this decision has long-term impact for tribal members.
"While some outside the Tribe will focus only on our quest to build a destination resort casino in Taunton in accordance with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, for us this goes far beyond economic development," Cromwell said. "This is about controlling our own destiny and preserving our ancient culture."
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has inhabited present-day Massachusetts for more than 12,000 years and currently has approximately 2,600 enrolled citizens. The tribe was re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007, retaining full tribal sovereignty rights.
Leyda Quast is an intern at WNPR. This report includes information from The Associated Press.