Tribal recognition appealed

Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state and three towns in southeastern Connecticut on Thursday appealed this summer's decision by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs granting federal recognition to a historical Eastern Pequot Tribe.

The administrative appeal was filed with the U.S. Department of Interior's Board of Indian Appeals. The panel has 30 days to determine whether it has jurisdiction to handle the matter.

If the board takes up the matter, it can return the tribe's recognition petition to the BIA or refer it to the Secretary of the Interior.

If the board rules against the state and the towns of Ledyard, Preston and North Stonington, there is still an opportunity to appeal the recognition in federal court, Blumenthal said.

The two tribes have indicated they plan to use federal recognition to enter into a gaming compact with the state and open what would be Connecticut's third casino in southeastern Connecticut. The appeals process could delay that for years.

In a 75-page brief, the state and towns claim the BIA did not have the right to merge two separate petitioners -- the Eastern Pequots and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots -- into a single tribe. It was an unprecedented action that is not permitted under the federal acknowledgment statutes, according to the appeal.

"Nothing new came out today ... other than confirmation that the issue for the attorney general and the towns is really gaming, and the vehicle to attack gaming is by attacking our very existence," said Marcia Jones Flowers, chairwoman of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Council. "This appeal is about preventing recognition of any new tribes in Connecticut at all costs. It's not about the process or our history."