Congressman Sam Gejdenson says he’s convinced Pequots “are Indians.”

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 10:26 a.m.

The 2nd District Democrat said he was simply trying to help his constituents when Congress granted the tribe federal recognition in 1983.

"The thing people are missing is, this thing wasn't settled to help the Indians," Gejdenson told The Day. "People couldn't sell their homes. The state decided we are getting flooded with people who are getting apoplectic about not being able to sell their homes."

He said the state cut a deal with the Pequots in which the tribe would relinquish its land claims in the Ledyard area in return for the tribal recognition that eventually allowed the Pequots to establish one of the world's largest gambling empires.

In Jeff Benedict's controversial new book "Without Reservation," Gejdenson is characterized as pushing through the recognition and land claims legislation without heeding warnings from other federal officials that there were problems with the Mashantucket Pequots' genealogy. The book, published by HarperCollins, claims the tribe is not descended from the historic Pequots, and may have a thin blood link to the Narragansetts in Rhode Island.

Gejdenson said he believes the Mashantucket Pequots definitely are American Indians.

"Yeah, I'm comfortable with them as a tribe," he said. "They've been a tribe in Connecticut for 300 years ... nobody really argued that case at the time. What was driving us was to take care of non-Indian constituents."

Some eastern Connecticut officials maintain the Pequots were given more land for their reservation than they were entitled to. They say transcripts from hearings of the congressional debate and the land claims settlement legislation describe an 800-acre parcel that the tribe could buy in exchange for dropping claims against Ledyard property owners.

Benedict, in his book, says legislators and tribal representatives were talking about 800 acres, but the tribe's reservation, the site of Foxwoods, the world's largest casino, is covers 1,200-acres.

Gejdenson said it may take a lawsuit to settle that dispute, but he said Congress is not the aggrieved party.

"Whoever those (aggrieved) parties are - the state of Connecticut, communities or individuals - they would sue the Indians. It wouldn't be Congress," he said.