Mashpee Wampanoag: Cape Cod Heritage and the Enduring Fight for Federal Recognition
On the sun-drenched shores of Cape Cod, where the Atlantic whispers ancient tales against a backdrop of rolling dunes and resilient pines, lies a community whose roots intertwine with the very fabric of American history: the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. For over 12,000 years, the Wampanoag, meaning "People of the First Light," have been stewards of this land, their presence predating European contact by millennia. Yet, despite their undeniable and continuous heritage, the Mashpee Wampanoag have been locked in a protracted, often bewildering, battle for full federal recognition and the rightful control over their ancestral lands – a struggle that encapsulates the complex and often unjust relationship between Indigenous peoples and the United States government.
The Mashpee Wampanoag are not merely a historical footnote; they are a living, breathing testament to endurance. Their story begins long before the Pilgrims’ arrival in 1620, when the Wampanoag Confederacy, led by the iconic Massasoit Ousamequin, held sway over much of southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island. The initial alliance with the English settlers, famously culminating in the first Thanksgiving, was a pragmatic move by Massasoit to protect his people from rival tribes and the encroaching diseases brought by Europeans. This fragile peace, however, would prove short-lived.
As colonial expansion intensified, tensions mounted, culminating in King Philip’s War (1675-1678), a brutal conflict that decimated Indigenous populations across New England. Many Wampanoag communities were shattered, their lands seized, and survivors enslaved or forcibly relocated. The Mashpee Wampanoag, however, carved out a unique path to survival. They were among the "praying towns" – settlements established by Puritan missionaries for converted Indigenous people. While ostensibly a means of conversion, these towns, including Mashpee, inadvertently provided a measure of protection and a degree of self-governance that allowed the Wampanoag to maintain their community and cultural identity amidst the chaos.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Mashpee endured as an Indigenous enclave. Despite immense pressure from land-hungry settlers and the state, the Wampanoag of Mashpee fought tirelessly to retain their communal lands and autonomy. They established their own governing body, adopted a constitution in 1834, and successfully resisted numerous attempts to dissolve their land base. In 1870, Mashpee was officially incorporated as a town, but its residents, predominantly Wampanoag, continued to operate with a strong sense of tribal identity and communal ownership. This continuous, unbroken lineage of self-governance and land occupancy would become a cornerstone of their future federal recognition claim.
The modern struggle for federal recognition began in earnest in the 1970s. For Indigenous tribes, federal recognition is not merely symbolic; it is a critical step towards affirming inherent sovereignty, securing access to federal programs and services (healthcare, education, housing), and opening avenues for economic self-sufficiency. The process, administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), is notoriously arduous, often described as one of the most stringent administrative processes in federal law, requiring tribes to demonstrate continuous existence, political authority, and community from "first sustained contact" with Europeans to the present day.
After decades of meticulous research, legal battles, and extensive documentation, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe achieved a monumental victory on February 15, 2007, when the BIA officially granted them federal recognition. This decision, the culmination of 30 years of effort and over 250,000 pages of historical evidence, was met with jubilation. Chairman Cedric Cromwell, then Vice-Chairman, stated, "This is a historic day for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. It is a validation of our continuous existence as a people, our culture, and our inherent sovereignty." The recognition promised a new era of self-determination and renewed hope for their future.
However, the euphoria was short-lived, and the path to true self-sufficiency proved fraught with unforeseen legal hurdles. A critical component of tribal sovereignty is the ability to take land into trust with the federal government, a process that establishes a tribal land base under federal protection, free from state and local jurisdiction. In 2015, the Obama administration, through the Department of the Interior, took approximately 321 acres of Mashpee land into federal trust – 150 acres in Mashpee and 170 acres in Taunton, where the tribe planned to build a casino to fund essential services for its members.
This decision, however, was immediately challenged by a group of Taunton residents, leading to the landmark case Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe v. Bernhardt. The legal battle centered on a 2009 Supreme Court ruling, Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Department of the Interior could only take land into trust for tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934, the year the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) was passed. While the Mashpee Wampanoag had continuously existed as a distinct tribal entity for centuries, they were not federally recognized until 2007. This legal distinction became a devastating blow.
In 2016, a federal judge sided with the Taunton plaintiffs, ruling that the Department of the Interior had erred in taking the Mashpee’s land into trust because the tribe was not "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. The decision cast a dark shadow over the tribe’s future, threatening their ability to build economic infrastructure and provide for their people.
The situation escalated dramatically in September 2018 when the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior, under Secretary David Bernhardt, issued a decision to "disestablish" the Mashpee Wampanoag’s reservation, effectively reversing the 2015 land-into-trust designation. This unprecedented move threatened to strip the tribe of its ancestral lands and extinguish its nascent reservation, sending shockwaves through Indigenous communities nationwide. Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell condemned the decision as "a grave injustice," stating, "We have been here for 12,000 years. We are not going anywhere. We will fight this decision with every fiber of our being."
The tribe immediately launched a fierce legal and legislative counter-offensive. They filed a lawsuit challenging the Interior Department’s decision and tirelessly lobbied Congress to pass H.R. 312, the "Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act." This bipartisan bill aimed to legislatively affirm the tribe’s reservation, sidestepping the Carcieri ruling and ensuring their land remained in trust. Despite passing the House of Representatives with strong support, the bill stalled in the Senate, a victim of political gridlock and opposition from powerful gaming interests.
In March 2020, the Department of the Interior formally ordered that the Mashpee Wampanoag’s reservation be "disestablished" and their land taken out of trust, a move that would effectively erase their reservation and subject their land to state and local taxation and jurisdiction. This was a direct threat to their sovereignty and self-determination. The tribe’s legal team secured a temporary reprieve, but the threat remained.
Despite these immense setbacks and the ongoing legal battles, the Mashpee Wampanoag have demonstrated remarkable resilience. Their fight is not just for land; it is a profound assertion of identity and the inherent right to exist as a people on their ancestral lands. Beyond the courtrooms and legislative halls, the tribe continues to revitalize its culture and language. The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, spearheaded by Jessie Little Doe Baird (a MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient), has brought the Wampanoag language back from dormancy, connecting generations to their heritage. "The language is the DNA of our culture," Baird has often said. "Without it, we lose a part of who we are." Children are now learning to speak Wôpanâak, a vibrant testament to the tribe’s enduring spirit.
The Mashpee Wampanoag continue to pursue economic development initiatives, provide essential services to their members, and act as diligent environmental stewards of their ancestral homelands. Their struggle underscores a larger truth: federal recognition, while crucial, does not automatically guarantee justice or security for Indigenous peoples. It is often merely the beginning of another fight for land, sovereignty, and the right to self-determination in the face of complex legal precedents and shifting political winds.
Today, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe remains a federally recognized tribe, but their reservation land is still technically out of trust. The legal challenges continue, and efforts to pass federal legislation persist. Their story is a powerful reminder of the enduring legacy of Indigenous peoples in America, their unbroken connection to the land, and their unwavering determination to preserve their heritage and secure a just future, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. The People of the First Light continue to shine on Cape Cod, a beacon of resilience in an ongoing struggle for justice and sovereignty.
