After a brief public hearing and a whirlwind deliberation session, the Martha's Vineyard Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a community center for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Black Brook Road.

The community center is in fact already partially built. The tribe first broke ground on the center in the spring of 2004; the building remains half-finished.

BOSTON — The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) publicly stepped back into the casino game this week, as tribal leaders formally announced that they have formed a business partnership with Seneca Nation, an upstate New York tribe that owns and operates three successful casinos.

Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal chairman Donald Widdiss announced the partnership at a press conference at the Omni Parker House in Boston late Wednesday morning, although news of the partnership had been reported in the regional print press early this month.

For the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Tuesday, Cranberry Day was more about culture and heritage than the pragmatic crop-gathering aspects of 100 years ago. Several dozen tribal members gathered around a fire all day on a sandy spot in the dunes at Lobsterville beach for communal and historic sharing,

That’s an appropriate use for the fall harvest Wampanoag national holiday, according to Cheryl Andrews-Maltain, tribal historic preservation officer and a candidate for tribal chairman in the upcoming elections next month.

The third annual Aquinnah Youth Powwow on Sunday will have an Ivy League flavor. Not that Polos and Dockers will replace traditional breech clouts and jingle dresses, but this year the event, hosted by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), will include 120 graduate students from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, courtesy of Tobias Vanderhoop, a prime mover in this event produced by tribal young people.

Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Marks Recognition Anniversary

By IAN FEIN

When the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) broke ground on a
community center building in the spring of 2004, tribal leaders
envisioned it as an important gathering place, and said young members
would be shooting hoops inside the new gymnasium by the end of the
summer.

Three years later, the building is still unoccupied, sitting
half-finished on tribal lands.

Roughly three decades ago a country lawyer from Maine unearthed a
forgotten 18th-century federal law and sparked a series of large Indian
land claims that led to federal recognition for a number of tribes
throughout the Northeast, including the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah).

Marking a potentially historic moment for town-tribal relations, Aquinnah voters next week will decide whether to adopt an untested land use agreement that bridges two governments: the town and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

The purpose of the document is to resolve a longtime dispute over who has authority to issue permits, and to prevent future lawsuits like the four-year landmark sovereignty case that cost the town, tribe and private citizens a great deal of money and goodwill.

Sitting in a circle on the floor of tribal headquarters in Aquinnah yesterday, roughly 20 town children were talking about the history of whaling when the conversation quickly turned to how excited they were about playing on a slide and possibly going swimming later in the afternoon.

Officials from both the town and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) are equally excited about the collaborative children summer program, which opened yesterday morning.

Resurrecting hopes for a peaceful accord in the small town of Aquinnah, town and tribal officials this week embraced a revised intergovernmental land use agreement and pledged to bring it before their respective constituencies for a vote.

Closing a chapter in the landmark sovereignty case, the Wampanoag
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) this week agreed to submit town permit
applications for the shed and pier it built on Menemsha Pond in 2001.

The announcement comes at a time of renewed cooperation and
communication between the town and tribe, and marks a significant moment
in the long-running case that has garnered widespread attention and
reached the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.