Twin sisters sue Wampanoag Tribe over disputed membershipPosted in Articles, Law, Media Archive, Native Americans/First Nation on 2021-02-14 22:12Z by Steven |
Twin sisters sue Wampanoag Tribe over disputed membership
Cape Cod Times
Hyannis, Massachusetts
2020-09-27
Jessica Hill, News Reporter
 Twin sisters Kayla, left, and Katie Balbuena outside their East Falmouth home. The sisters have filed suit against the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, arguing that tribe has wrongly taken them off its membership roll. Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times |
MASHPEE — Twin 20-year-old sisters are taking Wampanoag tribal leaders to court after they were removed from the tribal membership roll.
Kayla and Kaitlyn Balbuena are suing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Enrollment Committee in Tribal Court after the committee removed them from the tribal roll about a month ago.
“We don’t want to sue our tribe,” Kayla said, “but we just want to fight for our rights back.”
The Balbuena sisters filed the lawsuit on Sept. 15. The sisters, who live in East Falmouth, argue that the tribe’s enrollment department placed them on a pending list and have taken away their rights as tribal members based on hearsay and falsehood.
The enrollment committee and Rita Lopez, the enrollment department director, did not respond to a request for comment. Jessie “Little Doe” Baird, vice chairwoman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, also did not respond to a request for comment.
Read the entire article here.