Success Stories
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe
Dating back hundreds of years, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has a rich history in
The Tribe’s story was magnificent, but unknown. The Wampanoag adopted the English style of dress and, in 1683, built the Old Indian Meeting House in Mashpee. By the mid-18th century, the English and Wampanoag were jointly running the town, and non-Indians could not buy land without the tribe’s consent. Members of the Mashpee Wampanoag have fought in every American conflict, and the Tribe’s history of self-government has survived the turbulent times.
The Liberty Square Group began working with the Tribe in 2002 and immediately set out to craft a public relations strategy to help the Tribe gain recognition from the federal government. The battle for recognition as a sovereign nation began 30 years before it was granted by the federal government on February 15, 2007; the only tribe recognized under the Bush Administration. The strategy was quite simple: the public, decision makers, and opinion leaders needed to understand the Tribe’s history.
Since that official recognition, the Tribe has been on a new course to sustain the sovereign nation it fought so long to achieve. New programs for increased housing, educational opportunity, job assistance, cultural preservation, environmental programs, health care, and more are now available with federal assistance. And with the right to game on tribal lands granted, the Liberty Square Group helped secure a 2-to-1 vote by voters in Middleborough in 2007 in favor of the Tribe’s plan to open a casino there.