Lawmakers Call For Reversal

Of Tribe Recognition

By Lolita Baldor

Associated Press

WASHINGTON DC — Connecticut lawmakers December 9 urged Interior Secretary Gale Norton to reverse the decision granting federal recognition to the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, based on new marriage data revealed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The state’s three Republican members of the US House applauded the BIA for disclosing Wednesday that it made an error in calculating how many Schaghticokes married other tribal members during the 19th century. The new figures would drop the tribe below the 50 percent marriage rate threshold that automatically fulfills one of the seven recognition criteria.

In a letter to Norton, Reps. Nancy Johnson, Christopher Shays and Rob Simmons said the new information gives the Interior Board of Indian Appeals sufficient evidence to vacate the BIA’s decision to recognize the Schaghticokes, based in Kent.

They also said the BIA should “issue a reconsidered decision denying federal recognition to the (Schaghticokes) as they clearly now fall short of fulfilling each of the mandatory criteria set forth in the regulations.”

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the lawmakers’ letter sends a significant message. He added that he will be submitting a motion or request to the Interior Department seeking a reversal of the tribe’s recognition.

The BIA, however, has said the error does not warrant immediate reversal of the tribe’s recognition. Instead, it calls for additional scrutiny of the Schaghticokes’ petition to see if they meet the social continuity requirements in other ways.

The BIA early this year granted the tribe federal recognition, but that decision was appealed to the IBIA, which has yet to act.