Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Mashpee, MA

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, has inhabited present day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. After an arduous process lasting more than three decades, the Mashpee Wampanoag were re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007.

In 2015, the federal government declared 150 acres of land in Mashpee and 170 acres of land in Taunton as the Tribe’s initial reservation, on which the Tribe can exercise its full tribal sovereignty rights. The Mashpee tribe currently has approximately 3,200 enrolled citizens.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is headquartered in Mashpee on Cape Cod and have  their own health services, police force, court system, and education departments. 

The Tribe plans to build a $1 billion destination resort casino in the City of Taunton in Southeastern Massachusetts. The location is 40 miles south of Boston and 20 miles northeast of Providence, RI. The casino will be named First Light Resort & Casino and will feature a 150,000 sq. ft. casino with 3,000 slots, 150 table games, and 40 poker tables. There will also be a hotel with two 12-story towers and 300 rooms each, an event center and indoor/outdoor water park.

For the Wampanoag People, this project will represent growth, progression, and opportunity, while revitalizing the economic future for the City of Taunton, as well as our great state and our tribal nation.