Island town to ask tribe to halt gambling plans

AQUINNAH, Mass. (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.

Selectman Jim Newman tells the Cape Cod Times that 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.

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Information from: Cape Cod (Mass.) Times, http://www.capecodonline.com