The Martha’s Vineyard-based Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has petitioned Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker to negotiate a gaming compact. The tribe not only seeks the right to offer electronic bingo but all Class III gaming, including mobile sports betting, slot machines and table games.
The tribe worked several years to develop a bingo hall, but that project is currently on hold. In September, Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews Maltais sent the letter making an “official request to enter into formal gaming negotiations with the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” under the umbrella of the Indian Gaming Rights Act (IGRA) with the goal of a Class III gaming license under a tribal state gaming compact.
The tribe made its efforts known at a public meeting with the town of Aquinnah, which shares the island with the tribe. Until recently, the tribe focused on its Class II casino, an action not requiring state assent. It was prevented from obtaining a Class III license when former Governor Deval Patrick set aside a Class III license for the Wampanoag Mashpee tribe as part of the state’s gaming expansion of 2012.
The Mashpees were unable to finish their $1 billion First Light casino in Taunton after they lost a court case to opponents who challenged their federal status. The Department of the Interior then tried to disestablish their federal status, and then Chairman Cedric Cromwell lost his post when he was indicted for bribery by the Justice Department.
The Martha’s Vineyard tribe wants the right to build its own casino since the Mashpees are stymied, at least for now. Its effort to build a Class II casino began in 2019, but halted when a federal judge ruled it must obtain a building permit from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and obey town design ordinances. The tribe refused to continue under those terms.
According to the Martha’s Vineyard Times, Chairwoman Andrews-Maltais recently told tribal members she is looking at property in New Bedford to purchase and put into trust, offering services to tribal members off the island.
Through a spokesman, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said the tribe hasn’t contacted the city about a casino. However in 2018, the city council sent a letter to the tribe offering support for such a casino.
The chairwoman’s letter lists the tribe’s past efforts to negotiate a compact with the state. “First reaching agreement with Governor William Weld in 1995 only to have it rejected by the Department for the Interior for excessive fees to be paid to the state. More recently, the tribe requested Governor Deval Patrick enter into negotiations on March 5, 2012 and renewed that request on November 12, 2013. Governor Patrick refused to negotiate with the tribe under the incorrect belief that the tribe was excluded from IGRA.”
She is seeking all of the privileges that the state was once willing to give to the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. She also wants the right to offer statewide mobile sports betting.
The letter continues, “We would like to set up a meeting in the immediate future to discuss and establish a protocol to move forward. The tribe looks forward to frank and successful negotiations to establish a regulatory framework for Class III gaming.”
The Bay State currently has three Class III casinos, the MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor and the Plainridge Park slots parlor in Plainville. The law allows for a third full blown casino in the southwestern part of the state, which includes Taunton and Martha’s Vineyard.
