Beverly School Backs Wampanoag Tribal Effort

A class at a Waldorf school in the northeastern part of Massachusetts has urged Congress to the pass the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act.

Fifth graders at the Waldorf School at Moraine Farm in Beverly sent letters to Congressman Seth W. Moulton, representative of the Massachusetts Sixth District, urging that he support the bill and get it passed. The letters were accompanied by drawings.

The students dove into the initiative after visiting Plimoth Plantation late last year where they met one of the plantation’s Wampanaoag interpreters. The actor spoke to the students about the struggles the tribe endured following the arrival of the Mayflower; as the students continued talking with the Wampanoag character, they learned about the struggles the tribe has continued to endure. They also learned about a bill in Congress that could help.

The tribe is currently in a battle over its land. While the Interior Department granted the tribe land in trust in 2015, the decision has been mired in a lawsuit, and then, with a new executive branch administration, decided that the tribe did not meet the requirements for having their land protected by the federal government, and has essentially overturned the 2015 decision.

Meanwhile, Congressman William R. Keating (D-Massachusetts) of Bourne has filed a bill in Congress that would protect the tribe’s land.

Their interest stirred by the Wampanoag at Plimoth Plantation, the Waldorf students wanted to help. Initially, they wrote to the State House in Boston, but found out that it was a federal issue and sent their letters to Congressman Moulton.

Rep. Moulton late last week posted a video of himself to social media, thanking the students for their efforts. The congressman is a co-sponsor of the bill.

“I appreciate all the effort that you have clearly put into these letters,” Rep. Moulton said. “These students decided to stand with the Mashpee tribe and I do, too.”

The congressman said that the federal government has an obligation to honor its treaties with Indian tribes and to protect the Mashpees’ land.

He also had a message for the students: “Your voice matters in government. Keep it up.”