Much of this case will hinge on interpreting the intention of the authors of a bill enacted 86 years ago.<\/p>\n
The goal of 1934’s IRA was to reverse the traditional aim of assimilating Native American tribes into mainstream society in favor of helping them embrace their historic traditions and cultures by re-establishing sovereignty and building economic self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n
The Carcieri decision was named after former Rhode Island governor Donald Carcieri, whose administration successfully contested in the US Supreme Court a DOI decision to take land into trust for the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em>The term \u2018Indian\u2019 as used in this Act shall include all persons of Indian descent who are members of any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction, and all person [sic] who are descendants of such members who were, on June 1, 1934, residing within the present boundaries of any reservation, and shall further include all other persons of one-half or more Indian blood.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe Supreme Court ruled that the phrase \u201cnow under federal jurisdiction\u201d referred only to tribes that were federally recognize when the IRA was enacted.<\/p>\n
But many tribes have been granted the right to self-governance despite being recognized after 1934.<\/p>\n
\u2018Centuries of Mistreatment\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\nOn Wednesday, lawyers for the Mashpee argued that the language of the clause in IRA is unclear and that the Carcieri Decision — and that of the lower court in 2016 — took too narrow a view on tribal eligibility.<\/p>\n
\u201c[IRA] was not a statute meant to nibble around the edges,\u201d tribal attorney Benjamin J. Wish told the panel of judges, \u201cbut rather hit a body blow against centuries of mistreatment from the United States to the Mashpee Indians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawyers for the Taunton residents argue the language is unequivocal.<\/p>\n
In what must surely be seen as a positive development for the tribe, Judge Sandra Lynch agreed there were different ways to read the clause. She asked both parties to submit letters within ten days to summarize their arguments,<\/p>\n
The panel\u2019s decision is expected to take several months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe had its day in a federal appeals court Wednesday, as its lawyers argued for the tribe\u2019s right to self-governance and to build a $1 billion casino in Taunton, Massachusetts. The tribe is hoping the court will overturn a 2016 ruling that threatens to strip it of its sovereignty. In 2015, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":126269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Mashpee Tribe Back in Court to Defend Soveriegnty and Casino<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n