The Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head was ordered by a federal judge to stop the construction of a building located on Martha’s Vineyard, which is to function as a casino.
Earlier in July, tribal officials announced that they plan to convert an unfinished community center on the island into a gambling venue. The building, which spreads over 6,500 square feet, is located on Aquinnah Wampanoag reservation land.
However, officials from the town of Aquinnah claimed that the tribe started construction work without acquiring the necessary building permit. In addition, it seems that under certain zoning restrictions, a casino venue is prohibited from being opened there.
In order to prevent the tribe from proceeding with its plan, Aquinnah officials had filed an injunction to the U.S. District Court. Scott D. Crowell, lawyer for the Aquinnah Wampanoag, argued during a Tuesday hearing on the matter that authorities’ jurisdiction over the tribe is limited. In other words, they cannot ban the project.
Furthermore, according to the lawyer, under the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the tribe has the right to run a gambling property on reservation land and it cannot be denied that right or at least not by the town.
Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, who is in charge of the lawsuit between the Aquinnah Wampanoag and town officials, said that despite the Act’s provisions regarding the operation of casinos on tribal land, a building permit still needs to be obtained. Judge Saylor also pointed out that his decision is a temporary one.
The two parties are to return to court in August. The federal judge is expected to issue a more comprehensive and permanent decision during the upcoming hearing. He is to base his judgment whether the tribe could open a casino on Martha’s Vineyard on a number of facts and legal provisions.
Here it is important to note that Aquinnah is backed by Massachusetts. Under an agreement signed between the state and tribal officials in 1983, the tribe cannot run a casino on the 400 acres of land it owns on Martha’s Vineyard. The land settlement agreement was voted in favor of by the Congress in 1987. As mentioned above, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act came into effect a year later.
According to Mr. Crowell, the Act’s provisions preempted the ones in the 1897 agreement. In other words, the tribe could not be denied the right to manage a casino.
