The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is awaiting word as to whether the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case: Massachusetts v. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, brought by opponents of the tribe’s plan to convert an unfinished building on the island to a bingo parlor.
The opponents include the town of Aquinnah, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a local community group.
If the High Court takes the case, that will delay and possibly halt the Class II casino. If the court declines, which is considered highly likely, then the ruling by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals will stick, and the casino will go forward.
The appeals court in April ruled that the tribe was not bound by the agreement that it signed in 1987 as part of a federal land settlement, in which the tribe confirmed that it would abide by local land use laws. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed the following year, and the tribe contends that obviated the agreement—and allows it to build a Class II casino without a state compact.
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais recently told a Trump administration official, “We need to be able to chart our own course and land is one of the major components of who we are.”
In asking the Supreme Court to review the case, state Attorney General Maura Healey wrote, “Particularly in a case implicating such important sovereign interests, this court should grant certiorari to resolve this conflict.”
