New Wampanoag leader dismisses rift

MASHPEE -- The new leader of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, Shawn W. Hendricks Sr., and his supporters tried to present a unified front yesterday, gathering to dismiss concerns that a schism within the tribe was threatening the Wampanoag's effort to build a $1 billion casino in the state.

Some tribal members said they want to unseat the tribal council, then possibly reconsider the tribe's casino plans and reopen a land suit that severely damaged relations between Mashpee and the tribe in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We want to get rid of the council," said Steven Bingham, 63, one of the tribe members who wants tribe leadership replaced. "Was our tribe hijacked? Yes, it was. Are the same people still running it? Yes, they are."

Bingham and several other members of the tribe accuse the council of mismanaging money the investors gave the tribe to help fund its drive for federal recognition, granted in February.

Hendricks, speaking on the edge of a grassy field outside the tribe's headquarters in Mashpee, said the allegations are untrue and called the members making the complaints "a group that want money and want power."

He said the tribe will continue the effort to build a casino in Middleborough and honor other agreements and plans the tribe had made under Glenn Marshall, who resigned as chairman last week amid disclosure that he embellished his war record and was a convicted rapist.

"There are people who challenge the tribe because they have a separate agenda and refuse to accept our laws as a nation," said Hendricks, flanked by tribal elders and several dozen members who support him. "I feel enough support to move forward."

The members at yesterday's news conference circulated a statement expressing support for Hendricks. "As one of the elders, I'm glad to sign this first," said tribal member Eleanor M. Thaxton.

Hendricks's detractors said they have started collecting signatures for a petition to unseat the council.

His supporters accused Bingham and his allies of "creating his own tribe."

"They're very disruptive," said Angie Shwom, 47, a real estate agent who identified herself as "the real Mashpee Wampanoag."

"We did not elect them," Shwom said.

In Mashpee, town fathers were alarmed by Bingham's desire to revisit the failed 1970s lawsuit, which sought a swath of land in Mashpee and parts of surrounding towns that the tribe said was illegally taken. The suit had caused tensions between the tribe and town. "No one wants to see all the old wounds open up again," said John Cahalane, a Mashpee selectman who also serves as the town's liaison to the tribe.

As part of the deal granting the Wampanoag federal recognition, tribal leaders promised the Mashpee Board of Selectmen that they would not reopen the suit.

Hendricks said the tribal council has no intention of reopening the suit.

Bingham also said he would like to cancel the tribe's agreements with casino investors and put the project up for a new bid. Scott Ferson, spokesman for the investors, did not return requests for comment.

The rift within the tribe should not affect the agreement between the Mashpee Wampanoag and the town of Middleborough, where the tribe is hoping to build a casino, said Selectman Adam Bond of Middleborough.

The real issue, Bond said, is the decision Governor Deval Patrick is expected to make next month about gaming in Massachusetts.

"What I'm waiting for is where the governor's going to go," Bond said. "That to me is going to conclude this step of the saga."

A Patrick spokeswoman said that "the governor is on track to make his decision in September."

Today, Hendricks is scheduled to take a major step toward converting 539 acres of land in Middleborough into a casino and resort as he delivers the tribe's application to put the land into federal trust for the purpose of gaming to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' regional office in Nashville.

He will also ask to place 140 acres in Mashpee into federal trust to be used as conservation land, for museums, meeting places, burial grounds, and housing.

"We ask the US government to allow us to map our destiny as a sovereign nation," Hendricks said about the petition.

The bureau will decide whether to place the land in trust, a process that generally takes about 18 months.

Globe correspondent Christine Wallgren contributed to this report.