Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Mashpee, MA

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 Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. Recognized in 2007, they are headquartered in Mashpee on Cape Cod. 

The tribe has its own health services, police force, court system, and education departments.

In 2019, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe consists of more than 2,900 enrolled members. In 2015 their 170 acres in Mashpee and an additional 150 acres in Taunton, Massachusetts were taken into trust on their behalf by the US Department of Interior, establishing these parcels as reservation land.

The Tribe and its Gaming Authority are assessing many different options for economic development on our sovereign land, including options for a casino. For the Wampanoag People, the projects we undertake will represent growth, progression, and opportunity while revitalizing the economic future for the City of Taunton, as well as our great state and our tribal nation. 

As of September 2023, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Gaming Authority has asked to meet with the Taunton City Council to speed the whole process up by starting with a temporary casino project.