Post by blackcrowheart on Jan 21, 2008 10:27:17 GMT -5
Easterns Plan Renewed Recognition Fight
Other tribes will be asked to support bid that would reinstitute federal
status
By Scott Ritter
April 2, 2007
The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation has named two former chairmen to serve as
tribal liaisons as it moves closer to contesting a 2005 decision that reversed
its status as a federally recognized tribe.
Tribal Chairman Lewis Randall said Marcia Flowers and Agnes Cunha will act as
goodwill ambassadors, reintroducing the Eastern Pequots and their story to
other tribes after months of silence.
They'll also work with the tribal council as it considers ways to regain
federal acknowledgement, which would have brought aid for housing, education and
healthcare to the 1,131-member North Stonington tribe. Federal recognition
also would have opened the door to casino gambling, which has made the
neighboring Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes wealthy.
“We are asking for help from our sister tribes in Connecticut, as well as
seeking support from Indian Country,†Flowers said. “We still need the support
of Indian Country in this fight to regain what was taken from us.â€
Flowers said the tribe hasn't decided how to proceed and is weighing a number
of options, including appealing the decision in federal court or asking the
Interior Department's inspector general to investigate. She declined to
discuss other possibilities under consideration but said the tribe planned to act
in the “near future.â€
The Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized the Eastern
Pequots in 2002, but reversed the decision in 2005 after neighboring towns and
the state appealed. The BIA said the Eastern Pequots and a second Connecticut
tribe, the Schaghticokes of Kent, hadn't met all the criteria for
recognition.
Connecticut's congressional delegation and Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal have said the BIA made the right decision and that they'll continue to
oppose recognition efforts. But the tribes said their reversal of fortunes
smacked of politics.
“We stand behind our (recognition) petition,†said Flowers. “If it were not
for political influence, we would be a federally recognized tribe right now
and we would not be in this horrible predicament of our members still without
health care and decent homes.â€
Randall said the Schaghticokes' appeal, which is pending before a federal
judge in New Haven, has generated new evidence that could help his tribe. That
included a recent deposition by former Interior Secretary Gail Norton, who
recounted a March 2005 meeting with members of the state's congressional
delegation who were unhappy with the decision to recognize the Schaghticokes.
Also at the Capital Hill meeting was Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., an ardent
gambling foe. Norton said Wolf threatened to tell President Bush that “I ought to
be fired.â€
“We've read her testimony and it is d**ning,†said Flowers. “I mean, good
grief, she's the head of the department and it sounded like there was a gun to
her head.â€
Norton, in her deposition, said she “didn't lose any sleep over the threat.â€
And Connecticut lawmakers insist that the Schaghticoke and Eastern Pequot
decisions, which were released the same day, were not improperly influenced by
political pressure.
Flowers and Cunha, former chairmen of two now-united factions, have worked
closely on the tribe's recognition petition. They said they are acting as
tribal liaisons without pay.
The tribe doesn't have an administrative staff and no longer has a financial
backer.
Randall said the tribe began the acknowledgement process long before there
was talk of Indian gaming in Connecticut.
“You always hear, and I find it very insulting, to have federal recognition
and casinos in the same sentence as if that was the only thing that was
important,†he said.
Other tribes will be asked to support bid that would reinstitute federal
status
By Scott Ritter
April 2, 2007
The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation has named two former chairmen to serve as
tribal liaisons as it moves closer to contesting a 2005 decision that reversed
its status as a federally recognized tribe.
Tribal Chairman Lewis Randall said Marcia Flowers and Agnes Cunha will act as
goodwill ambassadors, reintroducing the Eastern Pequots and their story to
other tribes after months of silence.
They'll also work with the tribal council as it considers ways to regain
federal acknowledgement, which would have brought aid for housing, education and
healthcare to the 1,131-member North Stonington tribe. Federal recognition
also would have opened the door to casino gambling, which has made the
neighboring Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes wealthy.
“We are asking for help from our sister tribes in Connecticut, as well as
seeking support from Indian Country,†Flowers said. “We still need the support
of Indian Country in this fight to regain what was taken from us.â€
Flowers said the tribe hasn't decided how to proceed and is weighing a number
of options, including appealing the decision in federal court or asking the
Interior Department's inspector general to investigate. She declined to
discuss other possibilities under consideration but said the tribe planned to act
in the “near future.â€
The Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized the Eastern
Pequots in 2002, but reversed the decision in 2005 after neighboring towns and
the state appealed. The BIA said the Eastern Pequots and a second Connecticut
tribe, the Schaghticokes of Kent, hadn't met all the criteria for
recognition.
Connecticut's congressional delegation and Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal have said the BIA made the right decision and that they'll continue to
oppose recognition efforts. But the tribes said their reversal of fortunes
smacked of politics.
“We stand behind our (recognition) petition,†said Flowers. “If it were not
for political influence, we would be a federally recognized tribe right now
and we would not be in this horrible predicament of our members still without
health care and decent homes.â€
Randall said the Schaghticokes' appeal, which is pending before a federal
judge in New Haven, has generated new evidence that could help his tribe. That
included a recent deposition by former Interior Secretary Gail Norton, who
recounted a March 2005 meeting with members of the state's congressional
delegation who were unhappy with the decision to recognize the Schaghticokes.
Also at the Capital Hill meeting was Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., an ardent
gambling foe. Norton said Wolf threatened to tell President Bush that “I ought to
be fired.â€
“We've read her testimony and it is d**ning,†said Flowers. “I mean, good
grief, she's the head of the department and it sounded like there was a gun to
her head.â€
Norton, in her deposition, said she “didn't lose any sleep over the threat.â€
And Connecticut lawmakers insist that the Schaghticoke and Eastern Pequot
decisions, which were released the same day, were not improperly influenced by
political pressure.
Flowers and Cunha, former chairmen of two now-united factions, have worked
closely on the tribe's recognition petition. They said they are acting as
tribal liaisons without pay.
The tribe doesn't have an administrative staff and no longer has a financial
backer.
Randall said the tribe began the acknowledgement process long before there
was talk of Indian gaming in Connecticut.
“You always hear, and I find it very insulting, to have federal recognition
and casinos in the same sentence as if that was the only thing that was
important,†he said.