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'You were right and I was wrong': Judge concedes to Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe
Friday, May 31, 2019
The logo of the
Aquinnah Cliffs Casino, the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe's forthcoming gaming
facility. Image: Aquinnah
Cliffs Casino
The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe was back in federal court on Friday to defend its sovereignty amid opposition to a long-delayed gaming facility in Massachusetts.
The tribe broke ground on the Aquinnah Cliffs
Casino earlier this year but work has stalled because local officials claim jurisdiction at the project site. The dispute is before Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, who conceded that he made a mistake by not recognizing the tribe's authority when the case first went before him.
“You were right and I was wrong,” Saylor said in court in Boston, The Martha's Vineyard Times reported.
Fortunately, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals corrected Saylor. A historic April 2017 decision found that the tribe has every right to open a Class II gaming facility on its reservation.
Yet officials in the town of Aquinnah claim the ruling did not address an issue that has stalled construction on the casino. They are trying to force the tribe to obtain permits before going forward.
“They’re asking us to get permission, which we don’t need,” Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais told the Times after the hearing. “It’s simply disrespectful.”
The tribe was hoping to open the 10,000 square-foot casino this summer but the permit dispute has pushed back the date. The facility will only offer Class II games like bingo and electronic versions of bingo.
Cheryl Andrews-Maltais serves
as chairwoman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe. Photo Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs
According to the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act, Class II games fall under the authority of the tribe and, where applicable, the National Indian Gaming Commission, an independent federal agency.
States and local governments have no role.
The NIGC has already approved the tribe's Class II gaming ordinance. The agency previously confirmed that the tribe can use its reservation, located on the island of Martha's Vineyard, for such gaming.
The tribe is working with Global Gaming Solutions, a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation, on the casino. The Chickasaws were a pioneer in Class II gaming.
Read More on the Story
Tribe, town make their pleas in federal court
(The Martha's Vineyard Times May 31, 2019)
Town, Tribe Meet in Federal Court Over Casino Claims
(The Vineyard Gazette May 31, 2019)
Martha’s Vineyard tribe, town spar over casino construction
(The Associated Press May 31, 2019)
$P 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Decision
Massachusetts
v. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) (April 11, 2017)
Relevant Documents
Department of the Interior Letter to the National Indian Gaming Commission (August 23, 2013)
National Indian Gaming Commission Letter to Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe (October 25, 2013)
National Indian Gaming Commission Approval of Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe Class II Gaming Ordinance (August 14, 2018)
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