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4 <br /> Glenn Marshall: It is. I truly believe it is. One of the things the citizens of Town of <br /> Mashpee have to understand is whether you negotiate now, or <br /> negotiate later, it is a proven fact that once federal recognition has <br /> come through, negotiation will have to take place. And to save the <br /> Town and the taxpayers and the citizens of Mashpee a long drawn <br /> out process, when we approached the Selectmen. We felt that a <br /> negotiated settlement ahead of time would free up everybody's <br /> fear about having their homes taken. And we have already heard <br /> about the petition that has been going around to the several boat <br /> yards and the post office to have the Selectmen stop any future <br /> facilitator talks. And that is every citizen's right. Arid as far as the <br /> poll is concerned, I know that each and every citizen in Mashpee <br /> reads a poll in the daily paper about what politician is ahead, where <br /> they go, what they do. Any civic group, any political group, and <br /> any community conscious group can commission a poll. We did it <br /> to find out exactly, and it wasn't just us, the federal recognition <br /> team has been helping us out. We needed to know how the <br /> citizens of Mashpee feel. There will always be a few people that <br /> don't want to see federal recognition. All I can say to the citizens <br /> is that there is an Indian Tribe here, there has been for at least five <br /> thousand years or if not more. Like it or not,we've been here. <br /> Mashpee was not a Town, it was a Tribe. Fifty-five square miles <br /> never to be taken deeded to us by the King of England. When the <br /> State in 1870 decided to make this a Town,the Tribe voted no. <br /> They made us a Town. But, yet as citizens of this country, we can <br /> go and send seventy men, Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Benway to the <br /> American Revolution. They never came home. We sent them to <br /> the Spanish.. we sent them to every war. And, you are happy <br /> about that. I can see. But, you know what, every one of us in this <br /> room feels the same way, Chuckie is not going to get any more <br /> than any one of us. <br /> I've heard about the petition that says that we are not going to pay <br /> taxes. No we are not going to pay taxes but your taxes are going to <br /> be re-numerated back to you from the BIA under a...that means <br /> that every student that goes to school that's a Mashpee Tribal <br /> member, the Town would be reimbursed. Any lands that are lost <br /> from the tax base revenue will be reimbursed. Infrastructure <br /> money will be reimbursed. So Mr. Ferguson, you are wrong. You <br /> are not going to lose any money. But you will gain a lot. You will <br /> gain one community. And that is what we all here hope, one <br /> community. <br />