Wampanoag Tribes Long-Term Leasing Authority (99-Year Trust Land Leases)

Current understanding

A bill would amend the Long-Term Leasing Act (Act of August 9, 1955) to authorize the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to lease their trust lands for terms of up to 99 years without requiring separate Secretary of the Interior approval for each lease. This is an incremental extension of an authority already granted to many other federally recognized tribes and is intended to facilitate housing, business, and economic development on trust land by giving lessees terms long enough to justify significant investment. Practical effect on affected groups: expanded self-determination and economic development capacity for the two named tribes; status: introduced.

Evidence log

• 2026-06-24 — Native American Entrepreneurial Opportunity Act: cross-connection with native-american-entrepreneurial-opportunity-act: Both are tribe-specific federal statutes that operate through political classification (tribal membership / recognized tribe status) rather than race, a framing relevant to the constitutional footing of Native-targeted federal programs. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-05-20 — A bill to amend the Act of August 9, 1955 (commonly known as the “Long-Term Leasing Act”), to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation and land held in trust for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and for other purposes.: cross-connection with lower-elwha-klallam-tribe-land-restoration: Both are tribe-specific federal land measures addressing self-determination and land-use authority for named federally recognized tribes. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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