The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to wade into the legal fight over the Aquinnah tribe’s gaming aspirations, clearing the way for an electronic bingo facility on Martha’s Vineyard.
Tobias Vanderhoop may have moved clear across the country, but in many ways he finds himself in familiar surroundings: on an Island serving in a leadership role for a tribal community.
While the election of Mr. Vanderhoop last Tuesday was not unexpected, the size of the majority by which that result was secured was probably hardly anticipated even by his friends. The campaign for Mr. Vanderhoop developed into a regular craze as it progressed; he became a sort of Buffalo Bill-among-the-British-nobility. People began to glory in the notion of elevating a Gay Head Indian to in some respects the highest place in the gift of the county.
The U.S. Court of Appeals this week delivered a sharp, clear message to the Wampanoag tribe — it has the right to operate an electronic bingo parlor on protected tribal lands.
The federal government Wednesday recognized the tribal status of the Gay Head Wampanoag Indians in a historic decision that opens the way to settlement of the bitter, 12-year-old land claim dispute.
One week after the bill was laid on his desk, acting Gov. Paul Cellucci yesterday signed into law the change that has been awaited by the Island’s smallest town since almost a year ago. The governor’s signature made it official.
The town of Gay Head is no more; long live the town of Aquinnah.
