Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.
NEW LONDON, Conn. -- U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd said Monday he's hopeful a congressional push to reform the federal recognition process for American Indian tribes can draw nationwide support for an issue hotly contested in Connecticut.
An amendment by Dodd and fellow Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman is the subject of a hearing today before the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee. The legislation seeks a one-year moratorium on the recognition process that has been blasted by critics as flawed and unfair.
Dodd said the measure has already drawn the endorsement of the National Governor's Association.
"This is a national problem in scope and it deserves national attention," said Dodd, who met Monday with leaders from Preston and North Stonington. Those towns have announced plans to join the state in appealing a recent decision to grant federal recognition to a historical Eastern Pequot tribe in southeastern Connecticut.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which grants recognition, currently has applications from more than 200 tribes from 37 states, Dodd said. In Connecticut, there are at least nine groups applying for federal approval, which ultimately allows a tribe to open a casino.
"This is not about being pro- or anti-Native American," Dodd said. "We just think the system is so flawed that when recognition is extended it becomes questionable. We just want to fix the system before it goes any further."
Chief Quiet Hawk of the Golden Hill Paugussett tribe, which is awaiting a federal recognition decision by the BIA, said Dodd is only representing the interests of town leaders.
"We too are constituents of his state," Quiet Hawk said. "It is disappointing that when our senator talks about the need to fight for his constituency on the floor of the United States Senate, he is not talking about the Native American community in Connecticut, but rather only about those who oppose our unwavering efforts to simply achieve what has always rightfully been ours: federal recognition."
The federally recognized Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegan Indians, both in southeastern Connecticut, operate two of the most successful casinos in the world. Surrounding communities have complained for years that tribal land acquisitions have taken property off town tax roles and cut local officials out of zoning or development decisions.
The BIA's decision this summer to recognize the Eastern Pequots and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots in North Stonington as one tribe prompted new demands for a review of the process.
Opponents say the tribes did not meet genealogical criteria and were approved despite the objections of BIA researchers.
North Stonington Selectman Nicholas Mullane estimated his town along with Ledyard and Preston have spent about $600,000 over the past five years fighting the tribes' petitions. In the past decade, the three towns spent nearly $1.2 million to oppose land annexation by the Mashantucket Pequots, Mullane said. The latest appeals process could tie up the case for years, officials said.
"The times are a lot tougher today than they were five years ago," Mullane said. "We want to make sure whatever decision is made, that we can feel it was credible, it was right and proper. The criteria has to be stabilized."
Dodd said legislative committees on Monday were still working out language that would include the North Stonington tribes in any federal moratorium, even though the BIA has already ruled on their petitions.
Gov. John G. Rowland has come out against any future casino development, a move praised by town officials.
"We're very thankful of his position, especially the one that he wouldn't allow state land to be used for casino and would challenge state land claims," Mullane said.
Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon suggested the governor should go one step further and help pay the towns' legal costs in what could be a protracted battle.
"This is a burden that's far too great for three little towns to bear alone," Congdon said. "We've carried the load for 10 years now and our taxpayers are hurting."
archive
