The Legend of Moshup is an ancient creation story from the Wampanoag oral tradition. It tells of the giant Moshup, the personification of the immense forces of nature, deciding to settle here after a long journey, and dragging his foot to separate Martha’s Vineyard from the mainland and plow up the Cliffs of Gay Head. Scraps from his dinner table are the fossilized bones and teeth of ancient life forms found there.

There was a lot wrong with the warrant for an Aquinnah special town meeting planned for Feb. 3, but a posting error was the official cause for a last-minute cancellation.

The decision, made at the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, further postpones votes on some $20,000 in town housekeeping measures outstanding since last fall, and action on a proposal from Ted Cammann and Jim Glavin of Chilmark to stage a seasonal performing arts program at the Aquinnah Cliffs.

Town, Tribe Sign Historic Land Use Pact

By IAN FEIN

At a characteristically informal event that was more potluck dinner
than Yalta Conference, town and tribe officials in Aquinnah this week
signed the intergovernmental land use agreement approved by town meeting
voters earlier this month.

About a dozen members of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
and a half-dozen town officials attended the signing ceremony at the
tribal headquarters on Tuesday evening.

The first time Carlos Montoya came to the Vineyard, he took a ride
up-Island and turned onto Moshup Trail - the unmistakable
three-mile length of road that hugs the western edge of the Island.

"Oh my god," Mr. Montoya said this month, recalling his
impression from that 1970 visit. "It was unbelievable."

Now a 10-year resident of Moshup Trail, he characterizes it as the
single most important stretch of land in Aquinnah. "It is simply
one of the most magical places," Mr. Montoya said.

Aquinnah Reconvenes Town Meeting

By IAN FEIN

Aquinnah voters this week will pick up where they left off one month
ago and reconvene their annual town meeting to try to adopt a balanced
town budget.

The original town meeting adjourned early on May 9 when it became
clear that a large contingent of voters were unhappy with the budget as
presented. This week's meeting, a continuation of the chaotic
first installment, will be held on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the old town
hall.

Signaling its own interest in a case which has attracted attention
around the country, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC)
agreed this week to hear the Aquinnah court appeal over sovereign
immunity.

At Aquinnah Town Meeting, the Emotions Frame Museum Debate

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The subject was a plan for a cultural museum in a historic homestead
high on a windswept bluff in the town of Aquinnah. But the discussion
that swirled for more than an hour and a half at a special town meeting
Tuesday night was layered with the emotion of a town torn down the
middle.

Underneath it all lay the central topic of the day: the recent court
ruling on sovereign immunity for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah).

In a land-use decision that has potentially far-reaching
implications for every town on the Vineyard, a superior court judge
ruled last week that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) cannot
be sued because of sovereign immunity.

If allowed to stand, the ruling by the Hon. Richard F. Connon has
the power to turn a landmark 1983 Indian land claims settlement on its
head.

A special superior court sitting is now set for next month in
Edgartown on a case that will ultimately decide whether the Wampanoag
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has the power to police itself when it
comes to local zoning rules. The case will also decide the much larger
issue of whether the tribe cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity.

The case has attracted little attention, despite the fact that the
outcome could have far-reaching implications for every town on the
Vineyard.

Aquinnah Voters Face Town Meeting Vote On $2 Million Budget

By JOSHUA SABATINI

The last town meeting of the Island's political season takes
place in Aquinnah on Tuesday, when residents will gather in the town
hall at 7 p.m. to vote on a $2,056,058 operating budget and 14 warrant
articles.

Although predicting the need for a Proposition 2 1/2 override,
selectmen are in the dark as to the exact status of the town's
free cash.