WampaGate

Marshall's web still in place

Freedom of speech gets you shunned

by Peter Kenney 

Michelle Russell is one of the five Mashpee Wampanoag shunned by the tribal council at the insistence of their disgraced former chairman, Glenn Marshall. Russell was in good company: tribal elder Amelia Bingham, her son Stephen Bingham, Stephanie Rodericks and Michelle Fernandes were also shunned by Marshall. Shunning denies entry to tribal property, all tribal benefits and participation in tribal ceremonies and gatherings.

Prior to Russell's shunning, she wrote a letter to a local newspaper supporting the other four members who had sought access to the tribe's books and records. The FBI and IRS are now demanding full access to the tribe's records. They cannot be shunned.

The Silence of the Sheep 

Click image to email anonymous news tipWhile the local print media, particularly the Cape's only daily newspaper, has been or should have been aware of the complaints coming from the tribe about the appearance of undue influence on tribal leaders by outside casino investors, no one ever connected the dots until capecodtoday.com first revealed Marshall's sordid past. Marshall was forced to resign and there has been a steady stream of stories about the tribe's internal issues ever since. Amelia Bingham and her shunned companions have been demanding for at least five years to know how the tribe has been managed.

Moving the goals by changing the rules

Now we know some of the tactics used by Marshall to silence opposition and lock tribe members out of their democratic process. For example, there is a 15-minute period set aside at the beginning of each monthly tribal council meeting for discussion and comment. But it has often occurred that a meeting posted to start at 6:30 p.m. actually began at 6 p.m., without notice of the change being posted.  People arriving for the 6:30 p.m. start were told they had missed the 15-minute discussion and comment period.

In order to run for tribal council, a member must have attended at least six meetings during the previous 12 months. This could be a problem - in one year prior to an election, Marshall cancelled eight meetings. When Marshall used this dodge to strike Paula Peters' name from the ballot three years ago, she ran as a write-in candidate and came within seven votes of defeating him. But even that vote was suspect. Instead of checking a box for Peters on the ballot, tribal voters had to write her name in. Marshall supporters watched as people voted and those who were seen to have checked off boxes were invited to a basement room for food while those seen writing in a name were escorted out of the tribal headquarters building.

But what about the shunned members? Russell appealed her shunning to the tribal judicial council and they reversed the order. She carries a document with her everywhere she goes, particularly in Mashpee, stating the decision. Russell had to sign a statement that she would not sue the tribe. One final step remains in the process of removing her shunning - the tribal council chairman must sign off on it. Although Russell completed the process in June, before the annual powwow, Marshall did not sign off. His successor, Shawn Hendricks, has not signed off either.

Perhaps more significantly, Paul Mills, who sits on the tribal judiciary council, wrote a letter to a local newspaper criticizing the shunned members for going to court and demanding access to the tribe's books and records. What judge could write his opinion of people who come before his court and publish it without being removed from the bench?

The Mashpee Wampanoag during Marshall's reign had only those rights Marshall allowed. It is clear whose side Mills favors.