The Aquinnah building inspector filed a lawsuit this week against the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to test the question of whether the tribe must follow local zoning rules. "A genuine controversy exists on this issue requiring judicial guidance," wrote Aquinnah town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport in the complaint.

The dispute over the right of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to arm its rangers with handguns and establish its own police force is now being hashed out in the offices of the state attorney general in Boston, where state officials are acting as facilitators.

The question of whether claims of sovereignty entitle the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to skirt local and state laws will be decided in Dukes County superior court, rather than a federal district court in Boston where lawyers for the tribe wanted the case tried.

A federal mediator yesterday waded into the dispute between officials in Aquinnah and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) over the tribe's plans to form its own police force.

For the first time since the mid-nineties, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is looking at favorable odds in its bid to build a high-end casino in southeastern Massachusetts.

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.