11.   Also, the tribe would have the only casino within a defined region of the state, all of eastern Massachusetts.

12.   But the tribes have special status, said Jerome Levine, an attorney representing two bands of American Indians operating casinos.

13.   But the tribe had no compact with the state, as is required by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

14.   Different tribes have different beliefs, they said, and members of most tribes are still trying to sort out exactly what the birth means to them.

15.   Every tribe had its talkers, from Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to a one-legged Tajik car thief.

16.   Federal recognition would also mean that the tribe would have to draft a new constitution and set up a new government.

17.   Experts in American Indian affairs said that many tribes have long had political action committees, and that political contributions have gone up in the last few years.

18.   Former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods agrees that the tribes have a good case.

19.   Grabowski, who did an evaluation of that decision for tribal members, agrees, although she says petitioning tribes have a dizzying variety of enemies.

20.   He said the tribe would have to be very careful, given that anti-Indian sentiment still lingers in the valley.