Casino news source: Boston Globe - http://www.boston.com
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
After chairman resigns, tribe vows to move forward with casino
By Anna Badkhen, Globe Correspondent
The new leader of the Mashpee Wampanoag gathered with about 40 tribal members and declared the tribe is resolved to move forward on a $1 billion casino after the resignation of the disgraced tribal chairman last week.
Shawn W. Hendricks Sr., the 40-year-old tribal council vice chairman who assumed the leadership role after Chairman Glenn Marshall resigned last week, said the tribe is now unified behind him. In the wake of Marshall's resignation after revelations that he embellished his war record and had been convicted of rape in 1981, some tribal members have said Hendricks should also resign.
"They are people who challenge the tribe because they have a separate agenda and refuse to accept our laws as a nation," Hendricks said, as tribal members circulated a statement expressing support for the new leader.
"As one of the elders, I'm glad to sign this first," said tribal member Eleanor Thaxton.
On Monday night, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council voted 9 to 1 to demand the immediate resignation of Marshall. It is not clear how the scandal might affect the casino planned in Middleborough. As tribal chairman, he signed an agreement that had been approved by the town by margin of almost 2 to 1. After his resignation, Middleborough selectmen said that the town entered an agreement with the tribe as a whole -- not Marshall as an individual.
A casino must still be approved by the Legislature and Governor Deval Patrick, who has promised to announce after Labor Day whether he supports the expansion of gambling. State law would have to be changed to allow slot machines at any gaming facility.
Marshall had been the public face of the tribe during his seven-year chairmanship and helped the Mashpee Wampanoag win federal recognition in February after a 30-year legal battle. Reacting to a report in the Cape Cod Times, Marshall admitted that he was convicted of rape and lied about his military service when he testified in 2004 before a congressional oversight committee in support of the tribe’s federal recognition. Marshall had claimed to be at the siege of Khe Sanh, a famous battle that lasted from January through April 1968. He was still in high school on Cape Cod at the time. |
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