AQUINNAH (AP) – Officials in the Martha’s Vineyard town of Aquinnah are planning to formally ask the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head to end its plans to convert a community center into a gambling hall.
The board decided at a meeting on Monday to send the tribe a cease and desist letter as soon as possible.
Tribal leaders want to offer electronic, high stakes bingo-type games at the 6,200-square-foot community center. The federally-recognized tribe says it has the right under federal Indian gaming law to offer certain times of gambling on tribal lands.
But the state has gone to court to stop the facility from moving forward, claiming the tribe gave up its gambling rights in a 1983 land settlement.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is hoping to build a resort casino in Taunton.
