Blake Moore: “I include in the Record the following letter from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah expressing their concerns…”

“I include in the Record the following letter from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah expressing their concerns about this legislation. I want to reiterate that I support this legislation. However, I believe it is important that the concerns of this sister tribe be included in this debate. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, Aquinnah, MA. To: The United States House of Representatives, Honorable Representatives From: Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah (The Aquinnah Wampanoag) Date: May 15, 2019 Re: H.R. 312 The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah (Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe) Strenuously Opposes H.R. 312, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah (Aquinnah Wampanoag) strenuously opposes the above referenced Bill due to the fact that it creates two classes of Tribes within the same Wampanoag Tribal Nation. H.R. 312 unfairly provides a pathway for economic development for one Tribe (the Mashpee Wampanoag) while simultaneously creating an obstruction to the other Wampanoag Tribe (the Aquinnah Wampanoag) whose Tribal community also lives within the same shared Ancestral territory of the Wampanoag Nation. The Bill sets forth a pathway for one Tribe (the Mashpee) to acquire lands in trust outside of its original homeland ``village site'' of the Town of Mashpee and does not provide the same opportunity for the other Tribe (the Aquinnah). H.R.…”