| Cedric Cromwell | |
|---|---|
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chairman |
|
| Born | Cedric D. Cromwell 1965 Boston, MA |
| Other names | Running Bear, Qaqeemasq |
| Occupation | Tribal Council Chairman |
| Known for | Indian gaming |
| Spouse | Cheryl Frye-Cromwell |
Cedric Cromwell, also known as Qaqeemasq (or Running Bear) in Wôpanâak, is the Tribal Council Chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts.[1] Elected in 2009, as chairman, Cedric Cromwell is the head of the official elected government for the 1,200-member federally recognized tribe.[2]
Contents |
Cromwell is the son of James Oliver Cromwell of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Constance “Lone Eagless" Tobey-Cromwell of Dorchester, Massachusetts, the former Wampanoag Tribal Secretary.[3] Born in 1965, Cromwell grew up in the Dorchester and Hyde Park neighborhoods of Boston. He attended high school in East Boston, where he was a member of the 1983 graduating class at Mario Umana Technical School.
He received an Associate’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Roxbury Community College in 1993. He returned to school, earning a B.A. degree in Community Planning & Management from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2005. From 1998-2008 Cromwell worked at Fidelity Investments in Marlboro, Massachusetts.[4]
Cromwell was formally entered onto the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal membership rolls in 2006 at the age of 41, based on his mother's having been born as a Wampanoag. He had been elected to the Tribal Council and served for three years before being elected Chairman in 2009. He was elected as part of a reform movement following the resignation of the former chairman, Glenn Marshall, who pled guilty on "federal embezzling, mail fraud and election finance charges".[5]
Cromwell has successfully gained financial backing for the tribe’s casino development effort from the Malaysian billionaire Lim Goh Tong and his Kien Huat Realty arm of the Genting Group. The chairman hired the former U.S. representative Bill Delahunt to lobby on behalf of the tribe.
In 2010 Cromwell formed and serves as president of the private, for-profit ‘First Light Corporation’ with other members of his council administration. They established the corporation for the purposes of real estate and casino development.[6]
Because the Wampanoag have long been without a reservation, Cromwell is committed to securing federal lands in trust for the tribe. Under state and federal gaming laws, such land is necessary as a sovereign base for the tribal plan to establish a gaming casino resort, including hotels, restaurants, slot parlors and retail shopping. The previous council chair Glenn Marshall had similar proposals for a Mashpee Wampanoag land-in-trust reservation, including the establishment of an international free-trade zone and Indian wholesale banking operations independent from state and federal regulators.[7]
Cromwell has traveled to Washington, DC, to lobby on Native American issues, including supporting the Native CLASS Act to improve education of Native children, and the equal treatment of all Indian tribes by the federal government. He testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.[8] He is working to gain Congressional approval for legislation to enable the Wampanoag to acquire land for the government to hold in trust, as they have no reservation in Massachusetts. The US Supreme Court decision Carcieri v. Salazar, ruled that newly recognized tribes, such as the Mashpee Wampanoag, could not acquire land for the Department of Interior to classify as federal trust land. In addition, Cromwell is working with the Massachusetts legislature to enact enabling legislation to allow an Indian gaming establishment with a tribal preference for the Mashpee Wampanoag in southeastern Massachusetts.[9] Such legislation was passed in November 2011, authorizing the tribe to acquire land for a gaming casino.
Cromwell is married to Cheryl Frye Cromwell. Since 2002 they have resided in Attleboro, Massachusetts[10] In 2009 the Cape Cod Times reported Cromwell was delinquent on more than $13,000 in local property taxes and utility bills.[11]