The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has announced that the tribe is considering bringing gaming to the Island, according to a new Web site published by the tribe’s gaming corporation this week.
“The tribe currently holds land in trust on Martha’s Vineyard for economic development and we would consider that option,” the Web site states. “There is no legal impediment for us to open a casino on our trust land. Martha’s Vineyard is a very popular tourist destination that could certainly support a smaller-scale casino.”
The tribe has three pieces of land under option in Lakeville, Freetown and Fall River to build a commercial casino, and has requested to enter into negotiations with Gov. Deval Patrick for a gaming license for one of those three sites. In a separate letter, chairman of the tribe Cheryl Andrews-Maltais notified the state of the tribe’s intentions to bring a casino to existing tribal lands on the Vineyard. The specific location on the Island has not been described.
“The [notice] formally advised you that the tribe also intends to game on existing trust lands under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act . . . that request stands separate and apart from our request under state law,” Mrs. Andrews-Maltais wrote in a March 27 letter to the state.
In an interview with the Gazette last month, Mrs. Andrews-Maltais hinted that the tribe was considering a casino on the Vineyard.
“We’re not taking any options off the table — it is our inherent right to do so,” Mrs. Andrews-Maltais said. “But the manner in which we do it is what we would take very seriously. Would you ever see a Foxwoods or Las Vegas style casino here? I can safely say I’d vote against it, I don’t want to see that. But something that would be conducive to the Island, a modest small footprint . . . yes, that would be something that would still be on the table.”
This week the tribe celebrates its 25th anniversary of becoming a federally recognized tribe, and has about 300 members on the Island and about 1,100 across the country. The Vineyard tribe is also bound to follow state and local zoning laws for land use projects. In a landmark ruling in 2004, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the tribe had waived part of its sovereignty when it signed a settlement agreement with the town in 1986. This means, among other things, that tribal development projects are subject to review by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
This article appears in April 13, 2012.
Not that I can imagine that happening at all, and I’d certainly be against it, but it’s fun to imagine what it might look like.
We live near over 20 indian casinos, on what was beautiful farmland, they start small, but that doesn’t last long. Not a good idea, you have not seen greed until you see a tribe with millions and millions,the they start throwing each other out attracts a lot of other problems.Leave the Casinos to Vegas and AC, they know what they are doing.
I had to do a doubletake on this one- nope it’s not April 1st!
The stewards of the environment and People of the First Light should consider buying Foxwoods- wallowing in over a billion dollars in debt and struggling to survive. Perhaps the Tribe might consider the benefit of spending their energy trying to run their town in a less ridiculous fashion. They’ve already missed the boat on the whole gaming industry.
We don’t even want a roundabout.
How much money will be wasted trying to get something like this through, & then STOPPING it!
Have mercy!
Please do not pursue this foolish, inappropriate idea.
The only way for a casino to be profitable is for people to loose money there. The people who gamble at small casinos tend to be those who can least afford it. Does the tribe need this knowing the extent to which gambling addiction hurts innocent people? We already have sky high rates of alcoholism and drug addiction on the island. Heed the warnings of the other casinos’ debt problems. This is a recipe for disaster. Just ask the bean counters at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun- and they don’t even have the ferry issue to contend with.
Ive been coming to the Vineyard for 30 years. I used to come in the peak summer months until overcrowding and traffic became a hindrance. Now I only come in the fringe months of May, June, and September. If a casino is built, I wont step foot on the Vineyard again…ever.
I haven’t stopped laughing yet. The tribe couldn’t even operate Alley’s Store in West Tisbury at a profit. Perhaps they are talking about a FEMA trailer with a dozen slots. And, when they lose their food money, there is always the ATM attached to the first building by the cliffs
… makes for a great conversation starter though …
Casinos will be a blight the Island. I am opposed to casinos in general, but especially on Martha’s Vineyard. Casinos take advantage of those people who can least afford to squander their money on gambling. Consider the problem of gambling addiction and the many ruined lives that will result. They take away business from existing restaurants and shops. The low-level service jobs they create are not what the Island economy needs. The Wampanoags can certainly find a more wholesome use for their land!
I have no compunction against supporting a Native American casino on Martha’s Vineyard, providing that therein the only currency accepted is WAMPUM.
Some hypotheses.
Tour buses from all over?
Very large tour buses?
Small eco-friendly tour buses?
Tour buses rolling through Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury and Chilmark on way to Aquinnah?
Increase in ferry costs as casino drives up demand?
Decrease in ferry costs as casino drives up demand?
Gamblers arriving in SUV’s?
Gamblers arriving on bicycles?
“Green” Gamblers?
Hotel space for gamblers in Aquinnah?
No increase in lodging along with casino?
Go from dry town to full liquor licenses to support gambling business?
Stay a dry town?
High end casino like Monte Carlo – boutique casino?
Reliance on slots like so many other casinos?
Set aside of profits to treat addicts to gambling and drugs?
Theorize that there will be no need to treat any kinds of addicts?
Drug treatment centers elsewhere on island?
Drug treatment centers in Aquinnah?
Restaurants for the casinos?
Hot dog stands for gamblers?
Package stores in Aquinnah?
No liquor outlets in Aquinnah?
Hordes of gamblers using the beaches?
Gamblers urinating in various outdoor places?
Need for a sewage plant?
Need for a casino police force?
More alcoholics in Aquinnah?
Less alcoholics in Aquinnah?
Home values in Chilmark increase?
Home values in Chilmark decrease?
More crime on the island as people supply gamblers with cocaine, crack, heroin and pot?
Less crime on the island as gamblers abstain from cocaine, crack, heroin and pot?
Prostitution?
No prostitution?
Gambling addicts in Aquinnah and foreclosed homes?
No problems with gambling addicts or foreclosed homes?
Loss of traditional spiritual values?
Competition for tourism with other island towns and degraded quality of tourists?
Loss of spirit of up-island?
..the reason there haven’t been more postings on this item, is because it might be the most ludicrous proposal ever known to man. Who in their right mind thought anybody would buy this?
What a horrible, disrespectful and inappropriate idea. What about the obligation to fellow island residents ? Would be a terrible sellout that would create tremendous animosity. Hopefully a bluff but if not then says a lot about Wamapanoag leadership and their commitment to island life.
And the denegration of this precious jewel, we cherish, just continues.
Oh My!