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The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe raised its flag for the first time on reservation land on Monday after it received the designation from the Federal Government on Friday.
MASHPEE – Monday was a proud day for the Mashpee Wampanoag.
The tribe raised their nation’s flag for the first time on their reservation in Mashpee with a ceremony at its Community and Government Center.
The U.S. Department of the Interior designated tribal lands in Mashpee and Taunton as a reservation on Friday, two months after 321 acres was placed into trust by the federal government on behalf of the tribe.
“We’ve always been sovereign. We’ve come full circle and that is what today is all about,” said Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell. “We want that to resonate with everyone, with our people, with our friends, with our family, with our neighbors, with our countrymen.”
Cromwell said the tribe still lives on the land which is sovereign and sacred.
“It’s our mother earth and as stewards we need to take care of this land,” Cromwell said.
Chief Vernon “Silent Drum” Lopez says this day was a long time coming and he is as proud as he could be.
“To my estimation the land belongs to everybody and no one,” Lopez said. “The creator gave it us to live upon, to use, to occupy but not to own. So I’ve always looked at the land as a gift from the creator to use and pass on to generations but to never own it.”
Jessie “Little Doe” Baird, the tribe’s vice-chairwoman, said it had been 344 years since the last time the nation could say that it had secure land for its children.
“The thing about Mashpee is we are one of the most tenacious people on the planet,” Baird said. “One of the most honorable people and I have never met a tribe of people that loves the land under their feet more than the Mashpee. This is our reward from our mother for keeping our word to her.”
Baird said there are no words in both Wôpanâak and English that can sum up what this means to the tribe.
Francis Fermino helped to raise the flag with other members of the VFW Post 5489. Fermino was U.S. Marine for 22 years and fought in Korea and Vietnam.
“I’m just so grateful that we have begun to turn the corner and get ourselves together,” Fermino said. “Now it’s just a matter of harmony and working as a unit. That’s all there is to it.”
Fermino, who is now 81, grew up in South Mashpee and said he knows every backroad and pond in the area.
“It’s very touching to me. A lot of marines don’t seem to cry but it really touches my heart and I can’t help it because I feel it,” Fermino said.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has inhabited the land for more than 12,000 years and currently has approximately 2,600 enrolled citizens.
The land designation as a reservation is the final hurdle needed before the tribe begins their $500 million resort casino project in Taunton.
The tribe was federally recognized in 2007. Federally recognized Native American tribes are allowed to build casinos on native land, or land that has been taken into federal trust.
The 2011 law that legalized casino gambling in Massachusetts provided for a casino in eastern and western Massachusetts, a slots-only casino, and a casino set-aside for a federally recognized Native American tribe.
The state’s gaming commission has also been considering the possibility of issuing another commercial casino license for southeastern Massachusetts.
MGM Resorts is planning a casino for Springfield, while Wynn Resorts is looking to build a gaming resort in Everett. The slots-only casino has already opened in Plainville.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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