A Nation Once Again
Chief Says Tribe Is Ecstatic, As Blumenthal Charges Politics And
Casino Foes Vow Battle
January 30, 2004
By RICK GREEN, Courant Staff Writer
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs Thursday overturned a previous
decision and recognized a fourth state Indian tribe, the Kent-based
Schaghticoke Tribal Nation - making more casinos an increasingly
likely possibility in Connecticut and sparking a new firestorm over
tribal gambling here.
"We are ecstatic. This has been a long time coming. We have worked on
this for over a quarter of a century," said Richard Velky, chief of
the 273-member Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. "We have always been
there. We are no different people than we were yesterday. We plan on
being good neighbors."
Livid state and local officials promised to appeal the decision to
the federal Department of Interior within days, beginning a fight
that could last years.
In effect, the BIA decision combines two bitter rival factions - the
Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and a smaller group, the Schaghticoke
Indian Tribe. In 2002, the BIA similarly recognized the North
Stonington-based Eastern Pequots, again combining two rival groups.
Both the Eastern Pequots and the Schaghticokes are backed by wealthy
investors who want to bankroll gambling casinos. Federally recognized
Indian tribes are eligible to open casinos in states where gambling
is legal.
Thursday's decision stunned state and local officials who have fought
the federal recognition, dramatizing a cultural and communications
gap between 21st-century Indian tribes and local and state government.
"I will lay in front of the bulldozer that comes in to clear the site
before I let a casino come to Danbury," said Danbury Mayor Mark
Boughton, whose city is under consideration by the Schaghticokes for
a casino on the old Union Carbide headquarters site.
The federal bureau gave substantial weight to the Schaghticokes' long
history of state recognition - an issue hotly contested by the
tribe's opponents, who argue that state recognition means little. A
year ago, the BIA issued a preliminary denial of recognition, citing
decades-long gaps in the evidence of the tribe's existence.
"This approach means that the evidence no longer counts for anything.
This precedent is so astonishing and appalling in its reach and
effect that it should awaken Congress to the BIA's arbitrary and
lawless approach," said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
"It had to be politics," Blumenthal said. "Many of these tribal
groups have friends in positions of power. They have succeeded in
using that power behind the scenes." He said he did not know who
specifically - in Congress, the White House or elsewhere - might have
aided the tribe.
In an abridged version of its ruling released Thursday, the BIA said
that the state's centuries-old recognition of the tribe, along with
significant new evidence provided by the tribe, convinced it to
revise its decision of December 2002.
To win recognition, the Schaghticokes met a seven-point list of
criteria, demonstrating, among other things, evidence of continuous
social and political existence - including survival as a distinct
community - since contact with colonizing settlers. Previously the
BIA found blocs of dozens of years during which, it said, the
Schaghticokes failed to meet its definition of a tribal community.
"The state of Connecticut, since Colonial times, continuously
recognized the Schaghticoke as a distinct tribe with a separate land
base provided by and maintained by the state," the BIA found. "There
has been a continuous, active relationship from Colonial times to the
present between the state and the Schaghticoke in which the state
treated them as a distinct political community."
Previous questions about two critical areas - continuous "political
influence" and "continuous existence as a community" - are no longer
an issue, the BIA said. Recognition as a tribe by the state "provides
sufficient evidence for continuity of political influence ... even
though direct evidence of political influence is almost absent for
two historical time periods." These periods include 20 years in the
19th century and 44 years in the 20th century.
Eastern Pequot Chairwoman Marcia Jones Flowers - whose tribe also
benefited from the BIA's decision to emphasize state recognition in
its decision-making - praised the new ruling as a fresh beginning for
a state with a long native history.
"We celebrate this long-awaited decision recognizing the
Schaghticokes and encourage them to join us in the healing process
that is so necessary for our tribes and communities," she
said. "Despite the struggles still ahead, the Schaghticokes now have
the opportunity to provide for their members' health, education and
housing needs, which are so critical to us all."
But Jeff Benedict, president of the Connecticut Alliance Against
Casino Expansion, predicted that opposition would explode,
particularly in Fairfield County. His group has been largely funded
by Fairfield County businesses worried about a casino and its impact
on traffic and the local economy.
"The [Schaghticoke Tribal Nation] decision is Exhibit One that the
federal government is presiding over a corrupt process that
disregards the will of the communities and states most adversely
impacted by these decisions," Benedict said.
"The Connecticut congressional delegation has got to find a way to
get the ear of their colleagues in Congress," he said. "Connecticut
is erupting right now. There is going to be an enormous tide of
public demand for more than just talk."
State Sen. William Nickerson, R-Greenwich, said that, under
the "phony cover that we are talking about Indian culture," casino
investors are intent on bringing more gambling to Connecticut.
"This is a further chapter in the ugly history of the BIA wiring
together two tribes," Nickerson said. "It shows the BIA is poorly run
and unable to stand up to the pressure of phalanxes of lawyers, PR
men and lobbyists who want to get a big hit at the casino table."
Members of Connecticut's congressional delegation, who previously
have had much to say about the allegedly flawed tribal recognition
process, were not available to speak with a reporter Thursday and
issued statements through their press secretaries about the decision.
U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, however, said in a phone interview that
there is little Congress can do.
"The state needs to press this administratively. There is nothing we
can do in Congress. There is no will on the part of western Congress
members to change the [recognition] law. They don't think it works
badly out West," Shays said.
"A gaming facility on the East Coast is a license to print money,"
said Shays. The Schaghticokes "have three targets: Bridgeport,
Waterbury and Danbury. All three would be disastrous. A lot of
legitimate business would say, `We are out of here.'"
Velky, the Schaghticoke chief, declined to comment on possible casino
locations. The tribe has been studying possible locations along I-84
in western Connecticut, including Waterbury and Danbury. The tribe,
whose investors include Subway Restaurants founder Fred Deluca, has
also long been interested in Bridgeport.
The tribe's rocky, hilly Kent reservation along the Housatonic River
and winding Route 7 is not suitable for a mega-casino similar to
Foxwoods. But unlike the Eastern Pequots, the Schaghticokes have a
powerful tool to use when it comes to negotiating for other land to
build a casino - a pending land claim of more than 2,000 acres in
Kent, including the exclusive private Kent School. Lawyers say the
tribe could make larger land claims in Litchfield County as it seeks
to convince the state it deserves a prime location for gambling near
I-84 or I-95.
"From Kent's perspective, it is this issue of the presence of a
sovereign nation within our borders," said Kent First Selectwoman
Dolores Schiesel. If appeals fail, "we have to come to grips with
that reality. It is a group that doesn't play by the rules we all
know."
Further complicating the BIA decision is its apparent conclusion that
different Schaghticoke groups constitute a single tribe. The ruling
Thursday found that both the 273 enrolled members of the Schaghticoke
Tribal Nation and 42 "unenrolled tribal community members," some of
whom make up the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe, are part of a single
tribe.
"The decision appears to include members of the Schaghticoke Indian
Tribe. The federal government is recognizing the Schaghticoke people
as a tribe," said Michael Burns, a lawyer for the Schaghticoke Indian
Tribe. "But they are not going to be recognizing one group's
authority over the other group."
A discussion of this story with Courant Staff Writer Rick Green is
scheduled to be shown on New England Cable News each half-hour today
between 9 a.m. and noon.
