Litigation | Openings & Closings

Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe might stop work on Class II project

Monday, July 13, 2015

Chairman Tobias Vanderhoop of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. Photo from UNITY / Facebook

The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts might put an end to its controversial Class II gaming project.

Tribal members successfully petitioned for a referendum on the casino, The Vineyard Gazette reports. The vote takes place August 16, the paper said, and the outcome will determine whether work will continue.

“Our petition states that we want to repeal all resolutions, votes, et cetera, that have to do with turning the community center into a casino,” Beverly Wright, a former chairwoman of the tribe who opposes the casino, told the paper. “We want all those votes repealed.”

The New England Casino Race: Tribal and commercial gaming facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

The tribe plans to convert an unfinished community center on the reservation into the casino. But local and state officials claim the tribe can't use the land for gaming due to in the Massachusetts Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1987 that place the reservation under state law.

The Interior Department and the National Indian Gaming Commission, on the other hand, have concluded that the tribe can follow the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which became law a year after the settlement act. The federal agencies are not involved in the state's lawsuit.

In 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the law subjects the tribe to state jurisdiction. The case, however, did not involve gaming.

The reservation is located on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

Get the Story:
Tribe Will Take a New Vote on Aquinnah Casino Question (The Vineyard Gazette 7/13)

Relevant Documents:
Solicitor Letter to Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe (August 23, 2013)
NIGC Letter to Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe (October 25, 2013)
Press Release: GSB Client Aquinnah Wampanoag to be First to Game in Massachusetts (November 12, 2013)