WampaGate

Enough signatures on petition for recall of entire tribal council

Scott Ferson, Atty. William McDermott not allowed at tribal council meeting
Has the tide turned against the money changers?

By Peter Kenney 

Members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe have reportedly collected enough signatures on a petition to call for a recall of the entire tribal council. The next meeting of the tribal council may occur some time next week, followed by a regularly scheduled meeting in early October when the tribe will vote on a new council vice chairman.

Shawn Hendricks had been vice chairman until he advanced to the position of chairman, replacing Glenn Marshall who was forced out as chairman after he was revealed as a rapist and a liar. Hendricks and others on the council are reportedly also in jeopardy as tribe members ask about the influence of outside interests on the tribe's leadership.

CORRECTION!!
Either I was misinformed or I misunderstood: The petition in question, I am told, calls for the whole matter to be discussed by the tribal council with the tribal membership at a specified meeting, time and place. There is still an election coming to fill the vice chairman's seat on the council.Rumors are swirling around the tribe that Marshall and Hendricks have benefited personally from the largesse of casino backers in return for selling out tribal interests. A federal investigation into the tribe's finances and those of Marshall is underway.

Wednesday night's meeting of the tribal council was different in at least one respect: Attorney William McDermott, who has represented Marshall and is suspected by some in the tribe of being paid by casino investors to represent investors' interests at the expense of the tribe, was not allowed to take part in the meeting. Nor was Scott Ferson, president of Boston's Liberty Square Group.

Ferson admits that while his firm has a contract to be the tribe's public voice, he is actually paid by the investors. Both Ferson and McDermott were made to wait outside the meeting, presumably sitting in their cars.

The presence of non-tribal members who appeared to be providing answers to questions asked of tribal council leaders has been a concern for many in the tribe. Wednesday night, for the first time since outside investors became involved in tribal matters, the tribal council leadership had no help answering questions from the tribe.