James Lynch – Have Gun, Will Travel

Our friend, James Lynch, is back in the news. You remember him? The guy hired by POLO/POSY a couple years ago to “research” the Chumash’s legitimacy as a recognized tribe and where.. surprise, surprise .. he delivered for POLO/POSY coming to the conclusion that the Santa Ynez band is not a federally recognized tribe and that the reservation itself is not legitimate.

Seems the town of Halifax out in Mass. hired Lynch to come to the same logical conclusion with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. He was paid $5000 to “research” then write a report concluding that the tribe has no historical or cultural ties to 539 acres in Middleborough. The tribe is seeking to have this land placed in federal trust for them. Halifax is a town just north of Middleborough and has been opposed to the Wampanoag’s casino plans from the get-go.

Lynch’s findings were forwarded to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs by Halifax officials, who urged the bureau to reject the tribe’s land-in-trust application.

After being federally recognized in 2007, the Mashpee Wampanoag worked out an agreement with the town of Middleborough over their casino plans, but the Carcieri v. Salazar decision back in February where the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of the Interior had no authority to place land in federal trust for tribes recognized after the Indian Reorganization Act became law in 1934, brought things to a halt.

The tribe must now prove they were federally recognized as a tribe prior to 1934. That, or congress will have to approve an amendment (a “fix”) to the Reorganization Act to cover tribes recognized after that date and, so far, legislators have taken no such steps.

Lynch’s conclusions are in direct contrast to the research done by the Mashpee’s Wampanoag consultant and historian Dr. Christine Grabowski. She asserted that the contemporary Mashpee Wampanoag descended from a band that was part of the Pokanoket Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation, which settled in the East Bay and ruled over the area in the 1600’s.

So who should we believe? Maybe a quick look a credentials might help.

Christine Grabowski, PhD. has more than 20 years experience in federal recognition and has testified before Congress on the process. She is the principal of Grabowski & Associates, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in economic development, research and analysis, and communications for Indian country.

And Mr. Lynch? Lynch under sworn testimony in 2006 admitted that he has no training in land titles or surveying and has spent the majority of his career as a heating equipment salesperson.

Basically he is a hired gun who researches and writes to a predetermined conclusion and has NEVER, EVER found ANY tribe he has been paid to investigate as being legitimate.