Tribe's land bid may lead to casino
The Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe has made its first move to open a casino in Massachusetts by agreeing to purchase a 125-acre tract in Middleborough.
Glenn Marshall , chairman of the tribe, said the land acquisition by Detroit casino developer Herb Strather on behalf of the tribe may mean a casino will one day rise out of the woods in that rural corner of Southeastern Massachusetts, but not necessarily.
"We haven't decided 100 percent on Middleborough," Marshall said by phone last night. "There are several parcels in several cities and towns that we are still considering. But we saw this parcel was coming up for auction and decided to move on it."
Marshall said that tribal leaders have already begun discussions with town officials, but that there's no commitment yet from the town.
"We've had a couple of good meetings," he said. "We're still negotiating."
It's possible that the land, near busy Route 44, could be used for tribal housing instead of a casino, he said.
Strather, a longtime financial backer of the tribe, yesterday bid $1.7 million on the parcel on Precinct Street at an auction at Town Hall. He wrote a check for $5,000 to qualify to bid and has 45 days to pay the balance.
Middleborough, one of the area's top cranberry producers, is largely rural. It is some 38 miles from Boston, 22 miles from New Bedford, and 30 miles from Providence.
Wayne Perkins , a Middleborough selectman, told the Associated Press that he supports a Wampanoag casino in the town.
"It will create jobs," he said. "I don't see a lot of downside, personally."
Marshall said local support is crucial to any site the tribe finally selects. Other possible locations for a casino are New Bedford, Revere, and Brockton.
He said tribal leaders have discussed a casino with New Bedford's mayor, Scott Lang. "He's very open about it," he said.
Marshall said the tribe will meet with Revere officials after the City Council there voted to ask the tribe to consider that city just north of Boston.
Marshall said many in the tribe of about 1,450 have yet to focus on a casino, following a 32-year-long campaign to win recognition as a tribe from the federal government. That campaign culminated Feb. 15 when officials of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs called tribal leaders at their Cape Cod headquarters to say it was official.
Federal status gives the tribe the right to operate a casino as long as it can negotiate an agreement with state authorities.
Tribes in Connecticut, operators of the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, agreed in their negotiations to provide 25 percent of their slot machine money to the state, boosting state revenues by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The Wampanoags would also have to get approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to operate a casino on newly acquired land.
Only one other tribe in Massachusetts, the Wampanoags of Aquinnah, is federally recognized. The Mashpee Wampanoags befriended the Pilgrims 400 years ago and, according to tradition, participated in the first Thanksgiving, in 1621.
