Tribe building casino in Massachusetts applauds Justice Department decision
Tribal leaders from the Massachusetts-based Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe issued a statement Wednesday applauding a decision by the U.S. Justice Department “to push for reconsideration of a historic court decision that threatens to take away their recently designated Indian reservation.”
The tribe was in the process of building the $1 billion First Light Casino south of Boston when opponents filed suit to block the project and overturn the Department of the Interior's September 2015 decision to place more than 300 acres in trust for the benefit of the tribe, according to the Associated Press.
The casino, hotel and entertainment complex broke ground in Taunton in April.
“We’ve been on our land for thousands of years and all we seek is the right to exist here as a sovereign people. It was promised to us soon after the first Pilgrims arrived and it’s a promise we hope the courts will honor,” Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in the statement.
On July 28, Federal District Court Judge William Young ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the suit and remanded the case back to the Department of Interior.
The “motion to reconsider” filed by the Justice Department challenges the judge’s decision.
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