Former Mashpee Wampanoag Leader Cedric Cromwell CONVICTED of BRIBERY and EXTORTION

Yes, Cromwell was DIRTY. We've been posting on him since 2009.

Cedric Cromwell Former Leader
Mashpee Wampanoag
Photo: John Tlumacki Boston Globe

Cedric Cromwell, former leader of a Massachusetts Native American tribe was convicted Thursday of bribery and extortion charges related to the tribe's long-planned casino project, federal prosecutors said.

Cromwell,  was cleared by the federal jury in Boston of some charges, including one count of extortion and a count of bribery conspiracy, prosecutors said.

David DeQuattro, Cromwell's co-defendant and the owner of an architecture firm in Providence, Rhode Island, was also similarly convicted of bribery but cleared of other charges, according to the office of Rachael Rollins, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts.

NCAI SILENT OVER a DECADE on Disenrollment, Instant Comment on Mashpee Wampanoag Ruling by Trump Administration

Interesting how quickly the NCAI came out against the decision by the Department of Interior on the Mashpee Wampanoag people. Days... yet for over a DECADE, they've been completely SILENT on the abuses BY TRIBES on the disenrollment issue in fact MISSING IN ACTION. Over 11,000 Native Americans should have provoked some action, a comment, a discussion at their meetings, but NO. NOTHING.  Please read and share

NARF, NCAI and NIGA

Professor David Wilkins, who has written extensively on disenrollment, calls out Native American organizations that we've written about who've buried their heads in the sand to avoid the topic of Indians abused by their own tribes.


Open letter to the leaders of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA):

Dear Native Leaders,

Each of your organizations, founded at critical moments in native history–NCAI in 1944, NARF in 1970, and NIGA in 1985– have and continue to play vital roles in the political, legal, and economic development of Native nations. I write you all now to request that you continue to remain vital and relevant by taking an unequivocal stand against spurious disenrollment practices that destroy the human and civil rights of individual native citizens and threaten the sovereign powers of all Native nations.

NCAI is the largest (over 250 member nations) and one of the oldest interest groups representing indigenous peoples. The organization was born during the turbulent period when the federal government was aggressively moving to politically and legally terminate over 100 tribal nations. NCAI fought against giving state governments’ greater jurisdiction over tribal peoples and their resources, and fought against relocation policies that compelled thousands of tribal citizens off their homelands and into major urban areas.

TRUMP ADMIN: BRING BACK TERMINATION ERA to Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

AP photo

Tara Sweeney, the recently-installed Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, issued a decision on Friday that paves the way for a reservation to be taken out of trust for the first time since the termination era. The victim in this age of self-determination and sovereignty is the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, whose homelands in Massachusetts are now on the chopping block.



But the People of the First Light aren't accepting Washington's dictate without a fight. An emergency council meeting is taking place at tribal headquarters on Monday to address what Chairman Cedric Cromwell described as an "unbelievably grave injustice.'

"We have been on this land for 12,000 years and we are not going anywhere," Cromwell declared after receiving the negative decision.
Key to the effort is legislation in Congress which would prevent the reservation from being taken out of trust. With the executive branch willing to walk away from any responsibilities, passage of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act appears to be the only hope for success.

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