Post by blackcrowheart on Aug 14, 2006 10:05:14 GMT -5
Blumenthal: Dismiss Land Claims
By Michael C. Juliano
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/American_Indian_Injustice/post?postID=CYK\
zTWX_rUIBjm20ULNC_4bx8ktMAimUj9LO28W8jWUTVfwAeKAg6aAC1DRqhfA1tNkR020Eob2\
idQ>
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has asked a federal judge to dismiss
all outstanding land claims by the Golden Hill Paugussetts, who have
been trying since 1992 to regain land throughout Fairfield and New Haven
counties.
Blumenthal said he seeks the dismissal because the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) has twice rejected federal recognition of the tribe, whose
reservation consists of a quarter-acre in Trumbull.
"Innocent property owners held hostage all these years deserve an
immediate end to this long legal nightmare," he said. "Threats to their
property rights have complicated efforts to sell land and borrow money.
Dismissal will eliminate the long shadow of seizure over their homes."
The tribe's federal land claims include 20 acres in downtown Bridgeport,
100 acres in Orange and 19.75 acres in Trumbull.
Blumenthal's comments come a few weeks after U.S. District Court Judge
Janet Arterton restored the federal claims in July 2006.
"If the judge had thought the federal land claims had no merit, then
they wouldn't have put them on the docket," Steve Ellwanger, a tribe
spokesman, said.
Ellwanger said the Paugussett case "mirrors" the land claims of Long
Island's Shinnecock tribe, which has been granted a federal court ruling
to reclaim 79 acres despite not being federally recognized by the BIA.
"The federal judge in the Shinnecock case didn't wait for the BIA to
make a decision," he said. "He said, 'We're recognizing this tribe."
Aurelius Piper, the Paugussett chief who claims the reservation to be
the oldest and smallest in the United States, said the tribe also has 24
state land claims, which include about one-third of Westport.
According to the Paugussetts, they once presided over 720,000 acres in
the state, most of it in Fairfield County.
The Paugussetts claimed title to thousands of acres in 1992 ostensibly
to force the state to allow them to open a casino. The court put the
federal claims on hold while it waited for the BIA to decide whether it
would grant federal recognition to the Paugussetts.
In 1992, the state claims were dismissed on a technicality, although the
tribe may refile those claims at any time.
The federal court ignored the federal claims a year later on the basis
that the tribe didn't have federal recognition from the BIA. The tribe
appealed the ruling in 1994, and it was overturned on the basis that the
tribes do not need federal recognition as a tribe from the BIA to pursue
its land claims.
The BIA denied federal recognition of the tribe in June of 2004,
preventing it from opening a casino in Bridgeport.
By Michael C. Juliano
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/American_Indian_Injustice/post?postID=CYK\
zTWX_rUIBjm20ULNC_4bx8ktMAimUj9LO28W8jWUTVfwAeKAg6aAC1DRqhfA1tNkR020Eob2\
idQ>
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has asked a federal judge to dismiss
all outstanding land claims by the Golden Hill Paugussetts, who have
been trying since 1992 to regain land throughout Fairfield and New Haven
counties.
Blumenthal said he seeks the dismissal because the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) has twice rejected federal recognition of the tribe, whose
reservation consists of a quarter-acre in Trumbull.
"Innocent property owners held hostage all these years deserve an
immediate end to this long legal nightmare," he said. "Threats to their
property rights have complicated efforts to sell land and borrow money.
Dismissal will eliminate the long shadow of seizure over their homes."
The tribe's federal land claims include 20 acres in downtown Bridgeport,
100 acres in Orange and 19.75 acres in Trumbull.
Blumenthal's comments come a few weeks after U.S. District Court Judge
Janet Arterton restored the federal claims in July 2006.
"If the judge had thought the federal land claims had no merit, then
they wouldn't have put them on the docket," Steve Ellwanger, a tribe
spokesman, said.
Ellwanger said the Paugussett case "mirrors" the land claims of Long
Island's Shinnecock tribe, which has been granted a federal court ruling
to reclaim 79 acres despite not being federally recognized by the BIA.
"The federal judge in the Shinnecock case didn't wait for the BIA to
make a decision," he said. "He said, 'We're recognizing this tribe."
Aurelius Piper, the Paugussett chief who claims the reservation to be
the oldest and smallest in the United States, said the tribe also has 24
state land claims, which include about one-third of Westport.
According to the Paugussetts, they once presided over 720,000 acres in
the state, most of it in Fairfield County.
The Paugussetts claimed title to thousands of acres in 1992 ostensibly
to force the state to allow them to open a casino. The court put the
federal claims on hold while it waited for the BIA to decide whether it
would grant federal recognition to the Paugussetts.
In 1992, the state claims were dismissed on a technicality, although the
tribe may refile those claims at any time.
The federal court ignored the federal claims a year later on the basis
that the tribe didn't have federal recognition from the BIA. The tribe
appealed the ruling in 1994, and it was overturned on the basis that the
tribes do not need federal recognition as a tribe from the BIA to pursue
its land claims.
The BIA denied federal recognition of the tribe in June of 2004,
preventing it from opening a casino in Bridgeport.