Although it’s hard to see much progress by the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe in its project to build a small Class II casino offering electronic bingo on its reservation on Martha’s Vineyard since its court victory, the tribe says it is moving ahead.
The tribe originally said it would open something this summer. Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais told the Vineyard Gazette “We continue to work on our gaming initiative, establishing the necessary framework to keep us moving forward. As soon as appropriate, we will be happy to provide a much more detailed update.”
The tribe fought a long battle against the town of Mashpee and the state of Massachusetts, which tried to hold the tribe to an agreement it signed as part of a land settlement. Ultimately, the courts held that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) trumped that agreement.
The tribe can’t offer Class III gaming, but is within its rights to offer Class II, bingo-based games. Despite its legal right to build on the island, Andrews-Maltais says the tribe would prefer a casino on the mainland. That would require the state to agree to a tribal state gaming compact.
Class II games can be profitable, just not as profitable as Class III games. Slot machines based on Class II are virtually indistinguishable from the more profitable types.
After the court ruled in the tribe’s favor Andrews-Maltais announced that the number of potential investors in the tribe had “exploded exponentially.”
Former tribal Chairman Donald Widdiss, who opposes the casino, disputes this. He told the Gazette: “The reality is the tribe has been unable to find any viable backers,” he said. “They may be able to find some fringe players. The economics just don’t work. The problem is, number one, infrastructure. There’s no way for the tribe to affect the infrastructure to the point where you’ll be able to have enough people. It’s a state road, there aren’t any mechanisms by which you can get the assent of the towns between here and the boat or the airport to upgrade the infrastructure to handle enough traffic to make it viable. That was always the case. Nobody’s going to fund a bingo operation, not in this market.”
So far the tribe has not approached the town with plans for the bingo facility.
Aquinnah Selectman Jim Newman told the Vineyard Gazette: “They’ve not come to the town, no one is talking about it, I don’t see anything going on. If somebody knew and could tell us something it would be very helpful. There are things that we need to agree upon, in terms of services, fire, police, ambulance. Are they going to provide their own, or are they going to want us to provide them, in which case they would have to pay up front for it. That would be separate from our town/tribe agreement.”
