Chief Rodney Joseph on Plimouth Wampanoag History, Prejudice and Federal Recognition of the Tribe

Rodney Randy Joseph, Sr., is the chief of the Federation of Plimouth Indian Tribes in Massachusetts.

For Native American Heritage Month, NEWz spoke to him about the history of the Plymouth County Wampanoags in the 1600s and 1700s, and the frustrating process of getting federal recognition of the tribe.

Chief Joseph spoke to New England Ethnic News by phone on Nov. 16, 2007.

Following is an edited and condensed transcript of the conversation, which includes his account of historic details and legal interpretations.

Updated Nov. 22, 2007

What are some key issues of the Federation of Plimouth Indian Tribes?
One of our key issues is historical racial prejudice that was placed upon the Plymouth County region of tribes from 1621 to 1671, through the state and federal government. That is the key issue of us mixed Indian people today.

What happened from 1621 to 1671, during that period of prejudice against the Plymouth County tribes?
In the period of 1671, tribes signed the Treaty of Fidelity and, afterwards, a series of treaties. Through them, we were prejudiced, although we fought in wars - the King Philip's War, the French and Indian War, and the 1775 Revolution, for example - to help the white settlers.

Our land was supposed to be protected under those treaties in exchange for fighting in the wars. But our great reservations of over 500,000 acres were not protected. We were prejudiced against, and we were put in new mapped districts.

Our right to farm, to hunt, to use theses lands in present-day parklands under the treaties, that wasn't honored. That uprooted us for a great deal of time, to 1861, when the Earle Report came out.

What is the Earle Report?
The Earle Report was a highly significant report of New England Indians in Massachusetts, under the so-called Puritan government in 1861.

The state of Massachusetts Senate made the Earle Report, which said mixed-Indian people were no longer Indians, so we're under great prejudice. We were called mulattos, blacks, not Indians. That report is still on the books. Mixed-Indian people are Indians.

LAND RIGHTS

What happened to this land of yours that you said didn't get protected and that the tribe couldn't live on?
The land was taken - the word is called "annexed" - by the federal government and the state government. Today, they are all park areas - municipal parks of the state, the town, and the federal government throughout Plymouth County. This is a very key issue, a prejudice issue. We don't have a chance to use those lands as we were supposed to under our treaties that we signed.

Were all 500,000 acres annexed by the federal and state government to the state of Massachusetts?
Correct. To the state of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and also the federal government. The federal government has these lands controlled as well as the state government under the Parks and Recreation Department.

The governments annexed all 500,000 acres? Did they leave any land for the tribes?
No. In 1671, our great chief actually had deeds written by the court that these lands were supposed to be protected. I have these deeds. What happened is that the government - state, federal and town - they kept on taking these great lands (after 1671) to sell to white settlers and create taxation, et cetera. Which is all fine and great, but we didn't get our share of the land.

Are we still talking the 1600s, or is this going on--
This is still going on. 1671 to 1861, and currently. Some of these laws use racial (slurs) as names for our districts that are still mapped.

As a matter of fact, I made a report, called a Reconciliation Act, to reverse all these negative laws that are still on the books. I submitted this Reconciliation Act report to (state) Senator Therese Murray and (state) Representative Vinny deMacedo, both from Plymouth.

I petitioned them and showed the maps and the very-prejudiced terms that we were called in the 1860s and from the Earle Report. These maps are still current.

[UPDATE: New England Ethnic News submitted requests to Sen. Murray and Rep. deMacedo for comment on the petition. As of Nov. 22, 2007, New England Ethnic News has not received comment from either one.]

Where in present-day Massachusetts are these mapped areas?
They're located off of what's called Boot Pond, Little Pond, and Long Pond in south Plymouth.

Going back to the land that you said the governments have annexed and taken away from the Wampanoags, what's the status of that?

At one area here in south Plymouth, the Army Corps of Engineers is stopping us from actually having rights to use the land on a full-time basis with a particular museum at Scusset Beach in Sagamore, Mass.

How is the Army Corps of Engineers stopping you from having rights to use the land?
The state of Massachusetts was going to give me (the tribe) the land at Scussett Beach to make a museum.

The Army Corps of Engineers of the federal government said that we needed to be recognized (get federal recognition) with treaties. And we'd have to go to court in order to be able to use the land at Scusset Beach - they ignored the point that we were state-recognized and the state let us use the lands. We should have the right to use the land.

Could it be that federal government legally overrules the state in this matter?
The federal law states that if a tribe in a state, any state, can be recognized by the state, then the tribe therefore can have the right to work on federal land for different historic programs, cultural and ethnic programs, and receive ethnic grants.

The state has been working with us with that, the state of Mass. Parks & Recreation Department. Wonderful people! But the federal government reneged on that deal. And so the tribe has to go to court, and that's why we're prejudiced by the Army Corps of Engineers. They should've recognized their own federal law.

What do you want to do with that land at Scusset Beach?
There's a remainder of 128 acres that we want to just put trails in and some historic sites. This is not for gambling. This is just for a museum, tourists and educational programs that we're currently doing now part-time on these lands.

Earlier you said that the tribe signed a series of treaties in the 1600s and 1700s that were supposed to give the tribes the right to use the land and live on it. When did these treaties start to get reneged on, in your opinion?
After each war was over, specifically from 1775 to 1861. White settlers were coming from Europe, the Europeans were coming in great numbers.

Our people were forced to sign our land away. It gave us less and less areas for our people to live. Land was sold to raise surplus money to run the government, which made millions of dollars.

How were your people "forced" to sign away your land?
Our people were what's called praying Indians. We believed the white man was telling the truth, so we respected the mighty court and signed these treaties, and our great chiefs told us to go by these treaties. We were called in to sell parts of land.

When we gave it to the town of Plymouth or to some settler, what the court was trying to do is annex all these great lands to sell it to the white settlers who were coming after the wars. Then, there was a great tax basis for the towns and the state.

To some people, that may not sound like you were "forced" or tricked into signing away your land.
There was a form of trickery. There were only two or three negotiators who could understand the white man's ways.

Our other people - who were 100 to 200 different chiefs throughout Plymouth County, and Indian land owners - they didn't realize that they were giving away all their great lands and that they couldn't use it. There was no such thing in our language. We didn't have any bounds and surveys to say: Well, only one person owns that part of land; you can't go on it.

The white courts have a different story altogether. It's all real estate and profit and gain.

So there were language and cultural barriers?
There was a huge language barrier. There were lawyers against the Indian people who made up these deeds. The deeds are not written in the Indian language. There were no people there to talk to Indian towns to explain to the Indians what was happening.

FEDERAL RECOGNITION OF THE TRIBE

The Federation of Plimouth Indian Tribes has applied to, or petitioned, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA, which falls under the U.S. Secretary of the Interior) for federal recognition of the tribe. How tough is that process of getting federal recognition?
It's very hard. You can't just submit names of people and prove genealogy. The petition becomes a cost of $225,000 to $10 million for some tribes.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs gives you [requirements for] all these legal documents and historic and cultural documented information that you must have, for a correct tribe petition.

It is an awesome amount of documents - historic documents from the state, from the courts, from anthropologists, that say (for example) that this (land) was an ancient area, and that it's still Indian lands currently.

What are are all these legal documents needed - what are they supposed to prove or show about the tribe?
You have to have a continuing community, a group of people, in your reservation. You have to prove where your reservation lands are.

It is incredible, the cost to have historians, to prove that there was a history of the community, actually multiplying, living, living under prejudice (because of) state and federal law about Indian tribes, living in a redlined district area. Were there cultural programs? Were there historic programs?

What cultural-related requirements must be met before you can get federal recognition?
First, you have to prove you have a continuing community in your group, geographically and culturally.

Second, all of that has be proven by the state, in courts, by anthropologists, who have to give historic legal documents that also prove - historically and legally - that you had an ancient area.

Once you submit your petition to the BIA, is it downhill from there?
No, you still have to have continuing cultural and education programs that serve your tribe and the community, non-Indians and Indians, which shows that the tribe is active in the community.

Political leaders have to go in front of a town hall and say: This is our land, and white people are walking on our land. You have to have a community of "outcry," as the BIA calls it. You have to have all that documented by newspapers, reports and stories.

That has to continue in the contemporary period (including after you've submitted your petition to the BIA).

Every year, you have to show that you're getting a grant to educate the people and that you're participating in the community, and you're allowing other Indian people from all over the nation to come in and see these programs that you run for the public.

What is the status of your petition with the BIA?
The petition is still pending with Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of Recognition, it's called. I submitted the petition for federal recognition in 1994 and 1995. That was our first petition.

What are some benefits of being granted federal recognition?
The Secretary of Interior's office helps pay for land to get a reservation. They give you grants for housing and for your elders. They give you grant money for museums and basically for your tribe to function as a recognized federal tribe.

You first submitted your petition for federal recognition over 10 years ago. Why is it taking so long?
That's something that we have to try to force the Bureau of Indian Affairs to explain. There are over 100 tribes, not just us, also waiting. You can look up the Federal Register under the BIA, and it'll show the different tribes.

Since 2003, the tribes basically have no legal rights for our petitions to be processed. It's now taking 10 to 12 years for each tribe!

The "Administration Act" law says that our petitions are supposed to be processed (much sooner). The BIA should have processed these tribes in a two-year period. The BIA has no historian and anthropologist to process these tribes.

We become stalled unless you sue the U.S. Secretary of the Interior under the act, which is costly.

POPULATION, MYTHS and NATIVE AMERICAN PRIDE

What's the population of Federation of Plimouth Indian Tribes (the Plymouth County Wampanoags)?
We have 125 members. We keep our tribe very small. Each clan member, each family member, represents places such as Mattapoisett, Abington and Plymouth.

Most of our population have lived and have had families for over 300 years on our original land, in Plymouth County.

Are there any misperceptions or myths about your tribe that need to be corrected?
Yes. Most people think that when the Pilgrims first came here in 1620, as has been (taught) in schools all across the nation, that when Thanksgiving came about, that the Indian people of Plymouth were dead through disease.

That's how all the prejudice starts. The Indians weren't all dead, and they didn't agree to give away land.

Any other myths?
An 1861 rule in Massachusetts said we have to be full-blooded Indian in order to be Indian. The fact is, mixed Indian people are Indians.

A federal government law since the 1900s says that if you're over 1/16th Indian and have the legal documentation, then you're Indian.

We're trying to change the old stereotypes of those old laws that are still on the books. It's very important; that's the biggest myth.

Do people in the tribe face discrimination about not being full-blooded Indian?
Some have felt inferior to others in the tribe if their skin is much whiter. The skin of the Indian person of today is more a little yellow or brown in nature. We have programs on respecting our heritage. You can't feel inferior because your skin is a light shade or because your eyes are blue-green.

How is Indian pride today?
It's growing and very strong. Young children tell us in the schools, where we have our programs, they come up to us and tell us that their dad is mixed Indian or they enjoyed seeing the artifacts or hearing the stories we told. People are proud of their Indian ethnic background. They're not afraid of prejudice.

Is there anything that generalizes your tribe members?
Under the census of Plymouth County Wampanoag Indians, generally speaking, some of them are very sophisticated business people involved with the stock markets in New York and Boston. Others are doctors. Others are in the field of construction.

Most live off the land; they farm and grow things. They keep to themselves and try to make the different community events, such as the ones in the school.

ANNUAL COMMUNITY POWWOW

Is there anything else that you'd like the public to know?
Every year, just before Thanksgiving, we have the First People Pavilion [outdoor special event]. This year, it's November 21st to the 24th. It's on the Plymouth waterfront, next to Plymouth Rock.

It's an exhibit, in a tent, of our history, and we have big mural paintings of actual events of history from 1621, all the way to 2005 and 2007. The exhibit will have state and federal government reports, it'll tell who the federation is, and what Plymouth County is.

We'll have maps showing all the different tribes, our reservation, the different groups. We get a grant from the town of Plymouth to put this historical program on. It's free to the public. This is our way of having our annual community powwow.

Is there a Web site or number that people can call if they want more information about this First People Pavilion event?
Our main reservation number is 508-295-8193.

Is there anything else that you'd like people to know about the tribe?
We look forward every year to working with the public and announcing where we are, and we thank the town of Plymouth and the state for the programs and grant money they help us with every year as a group.

LEARN MORE:

Bureau of Indian Affairs
www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html

Indian Connector Newsletter of the BIA
www.doi.gov/bia/Final07NewsSMALL.pdf

National Congress of American Indians
www.ncai.org

Native American Nations
www.nativeculturelinks.com/nations.html

Powwows in New England
www.powwowschedule.com

source: go-NEWz.com

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