Editing Aquinnah, Massachusetts (section)

== Government==
[[File:Aquinnah Town Hall.jpg|thumb|Aquinnah town hall]]
On the national level, Aquinnah is a part of [[Massachusetts's 9th congressional district]], and is represented by [[William R. Keating|William Keating]].  The state's senior member of the [[United States Senate]] is [[Elizabeth Warren]]. The junior Senator is [[Ed Markey]].

On the state level, Aquinnah is represented in the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] as a part of the Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket district, which includes all of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, as well as a portion of [[Falmouth, Massachusetts|Falmouth]].  The town is represented in the [[Massachusetts Senate]] as a portion of the Cape and Islands district, which includes all of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and most of [[Barnstable County, Massachusetts|Barnstable County]] (with the exception of the Towns of [[Bourne, Massachusetts|Bourne]], [[Sandwich, Massachusetts|Sandwich]], and [[Falmouth, Massachusetts|Falmouth]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mass.gov/legis/citytown.htm |title=Index of Legislative Representatives by City and Town |access-date=March 19, 2007 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929115141/http://www.mass.gov/legis/citytown.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> All of Dukes County is patrolled by the Fifth (Oak Bluffs) Barracks of Troop D of the [[Massachusetts State Police]].<ref>[http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopsterminal&L=5&L0=Home&L1=Law+Enforcement+%26+Criminal+Justice&L2=Law+Enforcement&L3=State+Police+Troops&L4=Troop+D&sid=Eeops&b=terminalcontent&f=msp_divisions_field_services_troops_troop_d_msp_field_troop_d_station_d5&csid=Eeops Station D-5, SP Oak Bluffs]</ref>

Aquinnah is governed on the local level by the [[open town meeting]] form of government. It is led by an executive secretary and an elected [[board of selectmen]].  The town operates its own police and fire departments, near the Town Hall at the town center.  The Aquinnah Public Library, a former one-room schoolhouse of less than {{convert|1000|sqft|m2}}, is also nearby. The nearest post office is located {{convert|3|mi|km}} away in Chilmark.

In 2001, Aquinnah passed a bylaw requiring archaeological reviews of proposed building sites due to the 10 millennia of Wampanoag history in the town. This bylaw has unearthed scores of significant discoveries.<ref name=MVG/>