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Court dismisses lawsuit from Wampanoag members

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Friday, 06 August 2010

Court dismisses lawsuit from Wampanoag members By George Brennan This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it August 06, 2010 A federal appeals court upheld a lower court decision dismissing a land claim brought against the state by two members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, but the ruling left the door open for a future claim by the tribe as a whole. Amelia Bingham and her son, Steven, sought to reclaim land deeded in 1665 and 1667 to the "South Sea Indians," a name once given to the Mashpee Wampanoag. The Binghams alleged that the land was taken by the state without consent of the tribe when the town was incorporated in 1870. In the July 30 ruling issued by a three-member panel that included retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals supported the earlier ruling that the Binghams lack standing to bring suit on behalf of the tribe. The justices ruled that the Binghams were unable to show they suffered personal injury from the sale of land to non-Indians because they can't trace their own lineage back to specific land holders. Amelia Bingham said the ruling did not come as a surprise. "We expected that all along," she said yesterday of the court's decision. "We wanted to let it play out." In their original suit, the Binghams sought all land in town held by the town and state — leaving out individual landowners. That suit named both the town and state as defendants, but the Binghams dropped the town from the appeal. "Only the tribe would have standing to sue for any injury to its interests under the deed," Judge Sandra Lea Lynch wrote. In two previous land claims brought by the tribe in 1976 and 1982, courts ruled that the tribe had no standing because it was not federally recognized. That changed in 2007, Lynch acknowledged. "We do not decide what effect the Department of the Interior's 2007 designation of the Mashpee Wampanoag as a federally recognized tribe has on those opinions," Lynch wrote in a footnote. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office defended the state in the appeal, refused comment on whether this opens the door to a tribe land claim. Amelia Bingham said she believes it does. "That's what we were telling the tribe all along," she said. "But tribe leaders are too busy talking to Fall River when they should be talking about Mashpee." In June, the tribe announced an agreement with the Fall River mayor to build an Indian casino on 300 acres in the city. Tribe leaders have said they have no intention of bringing a land claim in Mashpee, and in 2008 the tribal council voted to condemn the actions taken by the Binghams when the original suit was filed. Yesterday, through a spokeswoman, tribal council Chairman Cedric Cromwell declined to comment on the decision. In April 2008, the tribe and town reached a deal, approved separately by the tribal body and town meeting voters, that provided certain lands to the tribe, including the Old Indian Meeting House and burial ground, in exchange for the Mashpee Wampanoag waiving all future claims. Meanwhile, the town agreed to support the tribe's efforts to put 140 acres in Mashpee in federal trust. Amelia Bingham said she isn't likely to appeal the ruling. She said it's time for the tribe to assert its rights. "We've opened the door part way. We have all the documents necessary," she said. "It's time for the so-called leaders of our tribe to take some action." http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100806/NEWS/8060316

 

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