The Trump Administration has ordered that the land held in trust by the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe should be removed. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt made the decision and Chairman of the Tribe Cedric Cromwell announced the decision on the tribe’s website. Cromwell called the decision “cruel and unnecessary.” And Cromwelll wants to know what is really driving the decision against the reservation.
The land held in trust gives the tribe autonomy to decide matters for itself including taxation and land management. The trust had been made back in 2015. It was back in February that the Federal Appeals Court in Boston ruled that the federal government was not authorized at the time to place the land in trust.
Cromwell said that the Secretary’s action is “very nefarious activity.”
In a statement issued late Saturday night, Congressman Bill Keating said:
“In a time of national health and economic emergency, the Secretary of the Interior should be reaching out to help all Native American tribes.
“This is one of the most cruel and nonsensical acts I have seen since coming to Congress. The Secretary should be ashamed.
”This also calls out the need for the Senate to act on the dual bipartisan proposals led by myself and Rep Cole, which would rectify this issue.”