BOSTON (AP) — An American Indian tribe proposing a casino on Martha’s Vineyard argued in federal court filings on Wednesday that it never waived its sovereign immunity when it reached a deal with the state for its ancestral lands despite what Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration contends in a lawsuit to block the plan.
In a series of legal briefs, the Aquinnah Wampanoag said they never could have waived their sovereign rights — including the right to establish certain types of gambling operations on their tribal lands — in their 1983 settlement with the state because they were not a federally recognized tribe at the time.
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