New Indian council created

BOSTON (AP) - A group of Wampanoag Indian tribes who say they're being ignored on big issues from offshore wind
turbines to gambling are creating a new council to deal with local government.

The state-recognized tribes are also calling for the state liaison to Indians, the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs, to be disbanded.

Pocasset Wampanoag chairman George Spring Buffalo said the commission speaks only for two federally recognized Wampanoag tribes, in Mashpee and Gay Head.

He said it ignores four other Wampanoag groups, the Pocasset,
Chappaquidic, Seekonk and Herring Pond.

Jim Peters is a Mashpee Wampanoag and heads the state commission. He says there's no favoritism at his agency. He says it works hard for all Indian people in Massachusetts.