Sunday, September 30, 2012

The Irony and the Ecstasy

“Unfortunately, Mr. Lynch has gained a reputation throughout the country as a hired gun who will come up with reasons to deny Indian tribes their sovereign right to land as long as the price is right,” Cedric Cromwell, the Mashpee Wampanoag chairman, said in a statement.

“Throughout our quest for federal recognition, and now an initial reservation, those with a financial motivation to deny us our rights have paid so-called experts to refute our history and our identity as Mashpee Wampanoag people.”

Conn. researcher can swing fates of tribes:
-- James Lynch debunks historical claims of Indians, sometimes testifying in disputes over casino proposals
Ah, the delicious irony.

A Tribe that once used billionaire casino investor money to hire an expensive lobbyist with 'questionable credentials' to influence the federal recognition process, then used more billionaire casino investor money to outspend a small community 300-1 in order to influence a casino vote that would benefit them financially, is suddenly calling the guy working on behalf for a rival tribe - for free - a 'hired gun'.

Oh so delicious.

4 comments:

Middleboro Remembers said...

Thanks for saying it, Gladys!

Some folks still don't get it.

Anonymous said...

As we say in the real world,"what goes around comes around". And "karma's a bitch", a rock'n bitch named Gladys! We'll see their casino to it's grave.

Anonymous said...

Great observation about the irony.
Heard "now" they looked into land in Plymouth and at the Wareham line near the fairly new strip mall.
Talk about Reservation shopping!! Their still at it, all for the love of a casino, not for their heritage/culture. What a pathetic so called tribe.

Gladys Kravitz said...

Dear Anonymous 3:52, yes this Tribe is definitely reservation shopping. I don't begrudge them or question the validity the title of "Tribe"? But I don't believe they fit the definition of 'federally recognized' tribe. This designation was created for tribes subjected to the allotment act, and somewhere along the way, what had been intended as a way to rectify wrongs, protect Tribes from future abuse, and solidify sovereign status, became a mechanism for endless federal funding and the national expansion of casino gambling. Not every member of the Mashpee tribe agrees with the casino-based agenda that their current leadership has been ruthlessly pursuing. As a citizen of the Tribe of the Commonwealth, I feel their pain.


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