Gov. Patrick signs casino compact with Mashpee Wampanoag tribe

By Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff

Flanked by members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, Governor Deval Patrick signed the state’s new casino agreement with the tribe, and both sides defended the compact as fair.

Under the terms of the agreement, the state would take 21.5 percent of the tribe’s gambling revenue, which is a high percentage among recent tribal-state compacts.

Tribal leadership said the deal includes benefits as important as money, such as the governor’s agreement to hold talks over the tribe’s aboriginal hunting and fishing rights.

The compact will be submitted to the US Department of Interior for approval. The Globe reported Sunday that the compact is facing a critical 45-day federal review amid signs that the state’s large take of tribal gambling profits could lead to the deal’s rejection.

“I would say there’s a fair chance it would not be approved because the terms are way too onerous,” Oklahoma lawyer Gary S. Pitchlynn, a specialist in tribal gambling law, told the Globe.