Call to Action in Solidarity With the Mashpee Wampanoag Peoples.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, has inhabited present day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. After an arduous process lasting more than three decades, the Mashpee Wampanoag were re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007. The federal government declared 150 acres of land in Mashpee and 170 acres of land in Taunton as the Tribe's initial reservation, on which the Tribe can exercise its full tribal sovereignty rights.

The Trump Administration is now working to take these lands away. This was based on a semantic technicality within the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. Now Mashpee peoples are trying to challenge this decision and are asking for solidarity and support for their rights as indigenous people.

Below is a link you can follow for more info about the history of the issue, and ways to get involved. One day of solidarity action is coming right up:

"Ahead of the hearing for Mashpee Lands in Washington D.C., we are asking everyone to light a sacred fire or a candle on May 3, 2020 and let it burn for 1 hour-4 days. Take a picture and post it on social media with the hashtag #StandWithMashpee. The power of prayer protests is essential in this movement."

In this time of global upheaval, may we find ourselves in alliance with those most vulnerable to exploitation and structural oppression. May we hold one another in love and accountability, and take whatever small steps are needed, to do the next right thing.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bg9Jz2QkRJM5lDCAVv_5OFOA-1SO4n4ShnmJbQpPufk/edit#