Litigation | Openings & Closings

Members of Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe debate casino bid

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Beverly Wright, a former chairwoman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. Photo from Facebook

The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts should delay plans for a Class II facility, a former chairwoman said.

Beverly Wright opposes plans to convert an unfinished community center into a 6,500 square-foot casino. She is urging tribal members to vote in an August 16 referendum that will halt construction of the controversial facility for at least a year, The Vineyard Gazette reported.

“They see it as an opportunity to get more money into our coffers, which may be true,” said Wright, referring to the tribe's current set of leaders, the paper reported. “We look at it as, this is our home and it doesn’t fit with how we believe Aquinnah should be.”

Wampanoag youth organized a meeting on Saturday to discuss the casino. According to the paper, all of the attendees oppose the project, which is the subject of litigation in federal court.
The New England Casino Race: Tribal and commercial gaming facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

The lawsuit began when the state learned of the tribe's plans for the casino. At issue is whether the Massachusetts Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1987 subjects the reservation to state and local laws.

The Interior Department and the National Indian Gaming Commission believe 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 settlement law subjects the tribe to state jurisdiction. The case, however, did not involve gaming.

Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV was due to hear arguments in the state's lawsuit next month. But he scheduled a hearing on July 28 in response to a request for an injunction from the town of Aquinnah, whose leaders issued a cease and desist order to the tribe to stop work on the casino.

The tribe ignored the order, arguing that the town lacks jurisdiction over an Indian gaming facility on its reservation, which is located on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

Get the Story:
Tribal Council Elders, Youth Rally Cause Against Casino (The Vineyard Gazette 7/21)

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)