Pombo called it "unconscionable" that the Mashpee had not already gotten what they wanted. He added: "The tribe is being told it may have to wait 10 or more years for a decision. The tribe could wait a half-century before obtaining a final determination."
At the 2004 hearing, Pombo called Tribal Council President Marshall as his first witness.
"We loaned the Pilgrims the moorings to land their boats, and we have been paying for it ever since," Marshall testified. He added: "It has taken me a long time to understand the workings of the government."
This spring, Marshall and other tribal members made more payments, including at least $20,000 to two political committees controlled by Pombo.
The congressman has come under fire in recent months from a fellow Californian on the House Resources Committee, George Miller (D-Martinez), who has strongly urged the chairman to hold hearings and investigate Abramoff's alleged lobbying improprieties on behalf of other Native American tribes seeking help for casinos.
In the latest in a series of letters, Miller told Pombo this month: "The American people need to know, and deserve to know, the impact that lobbyists and their allies within Congress and the administration have had on public policy and the public interest."
But Pombo has largely deflected Miller's concerns. Instead of opening his own investigation into Abramoff, he forwarded Miller's letters to federal prosecutors. "Any allegations of criminal matters of this sort are best addressed by the Department of Justice," he told Miller.
Abramoff and his colleagues also were working behind the scenes for the Mashpee.
Ferson said tribal leaders contacted Abramoff and his associates because "we knew he was the go-to firm." The tribe paid the lobbyists $40,000, much of it from Detroit casino developer Herbert J. Strather.
Ferson said Strather knew when making the donation that gambling was illegal in Massachusetts. Strather did not return repeated phone calls.
Documents released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee show Abramoff at work for the Mashpee. In a December 2002 e-mail, Michael D. Smith, one of Abramoff's associates, advised his boss that the government had "unfairly held them up" for recognition -- mirroring the questions Pombo would later pose in his meeting with Norton.
Three months later, Abramoff e-mailed one of Norton's former political aides, advising that "this regards the tribe in Massachusetts, and is quite urgent.... Let me know if you think this is something we can raise urgently" with officials at Interior.
The strategy to spend money on politicians and lobbyists has troubled some tribal members.
"I think it's disgusting," Stephanie Tobey-Roderick said. Abramoff and Pombo "were obviously taking money for their own political gain. It's all crooked. It's all messy."
When the tribe filed its petition for recognition in 1975, it wanted federal housing, education and healthcare assistance.
Though the Mashpee effort predated the casino boom, their lawyer said they "would probably be interested" in a gaming license if the state law was ever lifted.
Times staff writer Walter F. Roche Jr. contributed to this report.
