Gay Head (Aquinnah) Wampanoag Tribal Council election for chairperson – Cape Cod Times
AQUINNAH — After serving four three-year terms as tribal council chair of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, is facing a challenge from NaDaizja Bolling, 28, a member of the Gay Head (Aquinnah) Wampanoag Tribe for the position. Popularly elected by the general membership of the tribe, elections for tribal council chairperson, along with tribal council member positions, are by-mail only, with tribal government accepting ballots until Friday.
The victor will be announced Sunday and will be responsible for theoverall well-being and governance of the tribal community and tribal government, beginning Jan. 2, 2023. The successor will also lead the direct government-to-government relationships with the United States.
While Andrews-Maltais has served the U.S. government in several capacities in addition to tribal council chair, Bolling thinks the tribe needs a fresh perspective, along with transparency and communication.
For both candidates, the stakes are high as the tribe emerges from the pandemic, and moves forward into issues such as gaming; governmental relations with the U.S.; issues surrounding the Indian Child Welfare Act; and food sovereignty and land and language reclamation. Tribal leadership will not only impact tribal members, but also sister tribes, and the wider Martha’s Vineyard community.
We asked both candidates to provide information about their backgrounds, experience and priorities if elected. They are in alphabetical order.
Cheryl Andrews-Maltais
Residence: EdgartownEducation: Harvard Business School; Cambridge College; Miami UniversityPolitical experience: four terms as the tribal council chairwoman of the Gay Head (Aquinnah) Wampanoag TribeOther civic/tribal involvement: Government Accountability Office Tribal Advisory Council; Secretary Mayorkas for the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and Sub-Committee; Boston University School of Medicine Provost Advisory Committee; Harvard Provost Advisory Committee.Employment experience: Chair of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah); (former) senior advisor to the U.S. assistant secretary for Bureau of Indian Affairs ; (former) Gay Head (Aquinnah) Tribal historic preservation officer
Why are you running for tribal chairperson?
I believe I am the best person who can help our tribe and tribal government reach its fullest potential. Leading a tribal government is a complex job and providing the services and programs due to us from the United States is very challenging. Understanding the trust and treaty obligations of the United States and the government-to-government relationship is not something that you learn on the job. It takes years of experience to be an effective tribal leader.
I still have work to finish that was placed on hold while I led our tribe through an unprecedented worldwide pandemic. My entire last three years have been devoted to keeping my people safe and healthy. I had to fight to receive additional federal funding, PPE, testing equipment, food for distribution, vaccines and boosters. I had to create services that we never offered before, develop a workforce to provide those services, and we shared our resources with neighboring tribes, and local nonprofits and we even shared our vaccines with the local hospital. Now that we are getting back to a new normal, I can resume completing some of the initiatives that had to be placed on hold while we battled that deadly pandemic.
What is the most pressing issue within the Gay Head (Aquinnah) Wampanoag Tribe and how would you address it?
There are several pressing issues facing my tribal community for which the tribal government is elected to address. Our overall health, education and general welfare is critical. We have a population that faces significant health issues and it’s one of the primary factors in an overall healthy community.
Adding to that, is the need to ensure that every tribal member who desires an education has access to one ― whether in a degree college program, licensure and certification in the trades, or hands-on experience to earn a good living, is a fundamental component to providing economic self-sufficiency for each tribal member and their family. The general well-being of each tribal member can be directly linked to cultural and spiritual well-being, through the sense of knowing who we are as Aquinnah Wampanoag.
Our culture, heritage, traditions and spirituality creates the inner strength we need to stand in our truth, to help overcome the generational trauma we’ve endured. When that inner strength is absent, then substance use, misuse and abuse can take over, causing a whole new set of problems to address.
We also have a severe housing crisis, both on the island and on the mainland. Our People need to have a place to live and call our own in our own homelands. I am addressing each of these areas simultaneously because each area is interconnected and are priorities.
I’ve expanded our direct services to add additional support services and funding in health, social services and education. I’ve created new programs where none existed and continue to press the federal government to do more. I secured Congressional funding as well as funding from HUD (Housing and Urban Development), and we are in the process of building four 2 and 3-bedroom housing units on tribal Lands.
I also lead the purchase of an office and additional lands in New Bedford where we’re opening a satellite office and anticipate building additional affordable housing.
How do you differ from your opponent?
It all boils down to experience. I’ve spent my entire life as an engaged and participating member of our tribe. From the time I was a child, I spent time traveling and “visiting” my extended tribal family with my grandmother, both on the island and on the mainland. I had the benefit of being mentored by her peers — elders and medicine people from our tribe as well as from other tribes within the region. I know our history and culture. I’ve Pow-Wowed since childhood and have my tribal childhood friends and family who are also tribal leaders today. Well before federal recognition, we would come to the island for meetings and tribal gatherings. As a young person, I traveled with my mother who was one of the Tribe’s first Commissioners on Indian Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
What is your stance on gaming? Will gaming be a priority in your administration?
Conducting gaming is our right to do, and it is one form of economic development that Congress established to assist tribes in reaching economic sustainability. Gaming has proven itself to be a way for tribes to generate desperately unrestricted revenue to help provide for our tribal members. Pursuing gaming opportunities will always be a priority until the general membership says it isn’t.
However, with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of the economy affecting discretionary income, the changes in the gaming industry and landscape, the additional economic development opportunities on the horizon, and the immediate direct needs of our tribal members, it will have its place and be continued when appropriate. Timing and opportunity will be determining factors regarding when to resume our gaming initiative.
Would there be food sovereignty and language reclamation efforts on the island should you be reelected? What food sovereignty efforts have been made under your administration?
Food sovereignty and reclaiming our language are important parts of overall sovereignty. We have been providing a micro food sovereignty program for years, which is now being expanded. We have an arrangement with local hunters that if they donate half of their quarry, we will have it butchered for them. We use this, typically venison, to supplement our tribal family meat protein needs. I began to expand this with creating a role for our hunters to have greater access and ability to hunt — both on the island and the mainland, teaching hunting skills to create a self-sufficient venison (and other meat), foul and fish food bank for tribal members.
Under an agreement, signed in 2018, with the Massachusetts Environmental Police, our tribal members can hunt anywhere it’s legal to hunt (fish and or gather), and they don’t need to pay for a permit, only show their tribal identification. This agreement respects our Tribal sovereignty and aboriginal sustenance rights.
I also created a food distribution program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and will work with them on food sovereignty initiatives. Growing food is another form of food sovereignty, however, it takes a lot of land to grow enough food to make a difference. Partnering with farmers to share in the growing of traditional Native foods is one way to meet that challenge.
Regarding our language, language is the heart of its people. We have participated in a language reclamation program since the late 1980s. We received a grant from the Administration for Native Americans that provided funding for a tribal member from Mashpee to learn our language. Unfortunately, the program has not had the success in our community that was hoped for.
My hope is that with so much emphasis on reclaiming Native languages, there is significant funding available for us to re-imagine and re-design our program to have a greater reach.
Where do you stand on Indian Child Welfare Act or ICWA? If ICWA is overturned, what would your plans be to address the absence of ICWA legislation and programming?
ICWA is a vital protection for our tribal children and our future. I actually worked on the revisions to the ICWA regulations when I was a senior advisor in Washington, D.C. The new regulations were adopted in 2016 after painstakingly going through the comments and determining how to strengthen the law through these new regulations so it would stand up in court.
Once completed and adopted, I also traveled through Indian country helping tribes better understand how the law applies and also helped in the webinars and training for states. The theft of our Indian children is part of the attempted genocide of our people. By stealing our children and stripping them of their culture, community and identity is stealing our future. Indian children have been disproportionately removed from their homes and families, which is why Congress enacted ICWA in 1978.
I have been very engaged in the Brackeen case and previous cases involving ICWA, and I’ve been part of tribal leader panels and testimony regarding the significance and impacts of this latest assault on the ICWA and tribal sovereignty. I was actually at the Supreme Court hearing last week (on the 9th), unfortunately, I didn’t get inside.
Is there anything that I didn’t ask, that you feel is important for tribal members and the wider Martha’s Vineyard/Cape Community/Islands to know?
Tribal leadership is a marathon relay and not a sprint. Meaning, it takes years of learning and gaining experience before anyone should even think they can lead a tribal government. Many people conflate the cohesiveness of the tribal community with the responsibilities and obligations of running a tribal government. While inextricably linked, they are not the same. One depends upon the willingness and participation of the tribal community to engage, volunteer time and skills to teach our culture and traditions through socials, gatherings and community events.
A tribal leader needs to know the history of their own tribe, the relationship tribes have with the United States, understand and apply the principles of Federal Indian Law and be knowledgeable enough and formidable enough to gain the respect of the federal government, in order to hold them accountable to their trust and treaty obligations. We are a real government. When leadership changes and the new leadership is inexperienced or unqualified to hold the position, the damage that’s done to the tribe and Indian country can take years to correct.
NaDaizja Bolling (challenger):
Age: 28Residence: Aquinnah, MAEducation: B.S. in Public Health and African American Studies and Medical Anthropology from Syracuse University; M.S. in Business Analytics from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.Political Experience: Never held political office; but actively engage in tribal, local, state, and national politics.Other civic/tribal involvement: former vice president of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project; co-founder of The Wôpanâak Way; WTGH(A) Youth Group Leader; committee member for WTGH(A)’s Personnel Committee and Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Committee.Employment experience: current program director of the Aquinnah Cultural Center; (former) research assistant and project associate at Harvard Business School; (former) program associate for Carnegie Institution for Science’s education branch; (former) business manager at Quadrant Strategies; (former) independent digital communications consultant at Harvard Business School’s African American Student Union.Why are you running for tribal chairperson?
My motivation for running for tribal chairperson is to relentlessly advocate for and serve my tribal community. Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal members deserve much better from the administration that governs us than what we’ve been receiving. Not only does this include prioritization of functional essential services, progressive legislation, and enterprises that advance us, but it also includes some fundamentals like centering our homeland, culture, innovation, and professionalism.
In recent years, I’ve felt the repercussions of a shrinking sense of tribal community, indifference toward the climate’s effects on our territory, an outdated and non-inclusive approach to communication with tribal members, a dying desire for tribal members to engage in tribal business, and cursory attempts to collaborate with our sister tribes and local towns for real diplomacy. As a nation, we are losing sight of what is most important: all of our relations. Life as we know it is interconnected, interdependent and interrelated, and I understand that to excel as a nation, we need to make decisions that center this truth. This is my north star.
What is the most pressing issue within the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe and how would you address it?
As a professional, who has a strong organizational management background, the primary issue — and a crippling one for us — is the state of our staffing.
We have gone years, and in some cases, over a decade, without filling vital positions to carry out services that meet the needs of our membership. The tribe has not conducted a comprehensive needs assessment of our membership in more than a decade. While this speaks directly to the administrative segment of the tribe, the top administrators of the tribe report directly to the Tribal Council, so the issue — and it is dire — cannot be separated from the responsibilities of the Tribal Council.
In the past year, I have spoken to dozens of current, former, and prospective employees about their experiences working for the tribe or even just their application process. Several pieces of feedback that came up regularly:
- Never hearing back after submitting applications for positions that have remained vacant
- Carrying out the duties of several positions without remedial compensation
- Struggling through a “toxic” workplace culture where micromanagement was prevalent
- Feeling as though they or their families have been “blacklisted” from tribal employment
These trends are heartbreaking and absolutely deserve further investigation.
Our current leadership takes a lot of pride in securing funding that intends to expand our service reach and our footprint, but that is in vain if we do not have full and healthy staff to meet the obligations of that funding and to serve our tribal family well.
How do you differ from your opponent?
I offer a fresh perspective. I don’t have decades of experience — I’m not shy about that. My career, while relatively short in comparison to my opponents, has been incredibly robust and on a fast, upward-trending trajectory in leadership. Our tribe is in need of a fresh perspective! I credit my mentors and teachers for boosting my confidence and entrusting me with the wisdom that brought me to this point. I articulate my vision. I am running in this election alongside four other intelligent and community-oriented women: Kayla Darcy, candidate for secretary; Linda Coombs, candidate for tribal council; Kristina Hook, candidate for tribal council; and Camille Madison, candidate for tribal council. We share a vision for restoring tradition, integrity, relations, inclusivity, and excellence to our tribe. I am a leader. And dedicated to communication and transparency — which is what our tribal members want. Our campaign team demonstrates that we know how to leverage the most useful tools of our time to begin fulfilling the current void in communication. This is precisely the type of teamwork and collaboration that will move our tribal nation forward. I have managed digital communications for organizations for more than five years, and my graduate studies in business analytics have refined how I make insight-based decisions to address complex organizational issues.
I am present. Which helps me establish trust and build awareness of the challenges and hopes of those whom I hope to lead. Genuine relationships with tribal members, their businesses, island-based organizations, and our sister tribes are crucial. We’re so much stronger as a tribal nation when we work together and with our allies.
What is your stance on gaming? Will gaming be a priority in your administration?
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act declares “the operation of gaming by Indian tribes as a means of promoting tribal economic development, self-sufficiency, and strong tribal governments.” Operating gaming enterprises is well within our rights as a domestic, sovereign, self-governing nation. That said, I firmly believe that gaming operations should not be the sole means for economic development. This singular pursuit, as it has been, is not wise.
Gaming in Aquinnah is not currently a viable economic development endeavor for a number of reasons like lack of lodging and Aquinnah being a dry town. Further, the possibility of welcoming too many outsiders to a facility that sits on land contiguous to tribal housing worries me. This can lead to an influx of waste, which is already straining the island’s ecosystem, overuse of fragile resources and landscapes, and unwanted behaviors that come with gambling activity.
We sunk more money than we should have in legal fees to assert our sovereignty and seek clarity in the settlement agreement that the tribe made with the town of Aquinnah, and to no apparent resolution or end. We have prioritized this gaming endeavor for too long, and it’s hurting us. Gaming has brought success to many tribal communities, but I believe that here, on Martha’s Vineyard, we have a unique opportunity to be innovative; we’re overdue to consider other means of economic development for our tribe, especially those solutions that are aligned with our unique landscape, skills, and are not extractive or exploitative in nature.
Would there be food sovereignty and language reclamation efforts on the island should you be reelected? What food sovereignty efforts have been made under your administration?
To have a healthy community, there must be food sovereignty and language reclamation. It is disappointing that our current administration has not prioritized these efforts in any sustainable way. While much of the planning and execution for these efforts falls outside of the Tribal Council’s scope of work, it’s worth repeating that nothing can really get done here without adequate staffing.
Food sovereignty is near and dear to me because many of my family members have made a living from fishing, harvesting from the land, and feeding people at their restaurants for generations. I’ve learned so much from my family–which is a real privilege–and other tribal members deserve the same access to food and sustenance knowledge.
This summer, as the project coordinator for the tribe’s Natural Resource Department, Kinship Heals, and the Island Grown Initiative, I collaborated with tribal members to help define the goals and objectives in the food security section of the Martha’s Vineyard Climate Action Plan. We’ve come up with great ideas surrounding indigenous food sovereignty. If elected, I hope that I can empower those plans and continue collaborations.
Language reclamation is also a vital component of understanding Wôpanâak identity and ways. I recently served as vice president of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project or WLRP, and I have been actively engaged in classes for several years. My sister, Tysonnae, is a teacher trainee for the WLRP, and my running mate, Madison, is a current WLRP teacher. I am confident that we can work with the WLRP to create more language class opportunities on the island.
Where do you stand on Indian Child Welfare Act or ICWA? If ICWA is overturned, what would your plans be to address the absence of ICWA legislation and programming?
ICWA is essential. It provides guidelines for the placement of indigenous children into indigenous foster or adoptive homes. The primary goal is to place children in homes that reflect the unique values of our individual and shared cultures, protecting the interests of the children and tribes that they are part of.
If ICWA is overturned, states would effectively regain the power that enables them to tear Native children from their families, tribes, and culture. This is a tool of assimilation that is not new to us, unfortunately, and one that our children should be protected from. Keeping children among kin gives us more confidence that they will grow to be healthy, strong contributors to their communities and to society at large. The Supreme Court must uphold the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act for the well-being of our nations.
We need to continue legislating around ICWA so that its policies remain intact. As a tribe, however, we need to build our capacity for dealing with ICWA cases. This means that we need a fully staffed social services department, including an ICWA case worker, who is well-versed in ICWA and demonstrates commitment to keeping children safe and secure.
It is incumbent upon us to educate the Commonwealth of Massachusetts so they understand what ICWA means to our tribes. I’d like to get back to providing ICWA training for social workers, lawyers, and judges so they could be better positioned to advocate for the needs of our children.
I would be an advocate for initiating childcare programs that can lift the burden off of children and their biological/foster/adoptive families, partnering with youth and family supporting organizations to develop a thoughtful, updated resource guide for those families, and preparing caring adults for the potential of fostering or adopting tribal children. This work is sensitive, so it also requires that those involved in navigating individual ICWA cases have a commitment to confidentiality for the safety of the children and families involved.
Is there anything that I didn’t ask, that you feel is important for tribal members and the wider Martha’s Vineyard/Cape Community/Islands to know?
I can’t explain how it felt to see my own name on the ballot this year, and I’m tremendously grateful for the outpouring of support that’s been demonstrated, even before my official nomination and announcement. I want all of those who support me, as well as those who don’t, to know that the results of this election will not change my commitment to uplifting my community in every way. It certainly doesn’t end here — this is only the catalyst for a new beginning.