Blumenthal, Schiesel Address

Newtown Democrats

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, speaking at Edmond Town Hall to the monthly meeting of the Newtown Democrats on Thursday, December 9, soundly criticized the Bureau of Indian Affairs for its tribal recognition decisions.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is “either totally incompetent or totally dishonest. Either way, they shouldn’t be making these recognition decisions,” Mr Blumenthal said.

Just one day earlier, in what was called an “unprecedented, unique, and historic” development, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) counsel Barbara Coen issued an acknowledgement that the BIA had double-counted a key measure of tribal legitimacy: the rate of intermarriage amongst the Schaghticokes during the 1800s. This had been a crucial element in the BIA’s grant of recognition last January.

The attorney general reiterated his call for immediate reversal of the January 2003 decision, saying, “It’s a knockout punch — a justification for reversing the whole decision and denying recognition.”

He drew a sharp contrast between the situation with the Schaghticoke petitioner group — and the Eastern Pequot recognition that is also being challenged — compared with the Mohegans. “We’ve never contested the Mohegan Tribal recognitions because they met the criteria. For anyone who says the attorney general is anti-Indian, doesn’t respect sovereignty, is just out to stop gambling; what the law provides is what we should enforce, and we will respect the rights of people who comply with the law. The tribal groups that meet the criteria deserve to be recognized.”

“This is not about any individual’s heritage, it’s about the federal government’s programs to recognize tribal entities,” said Kent First Selectman Dolores Schiesel, standing at the podium with Mr Blumenthal.

Kent is where the 400-acre Schaghticoke reservation, which dates from 1752, is located.

“The first clue that this really wasn’t a tribe” came in the form of a document produced by an earlier group seeking recognition as Schaghticokes, and uncovered by researchers hired by First Selectman Schiesel, “which said this is a story of land, not a story of people.”

“Their approach was ‘we’re going to do result-oriented findings; We want it to be a tribe, we’re going to work backwards and fill in the spaces,’” she said.

The controversy is much larger than Kent and much larger than Connecticut, both speakers agreed.

“The system as a whole is not functioning. There are tribes in this country [that deserve recognition] that are being neglected. That is the problem with the influence of gambling. It brings in money where there are populations with the money to spend on gambling, while native American people who were meant to be helped by these laws continue to be neglected,” Ms Schiesel said.

The Schaghticoke petitioner group has been backed by billionaire Fred DeLuca, who intends to use the recognition to build a casino and resort complex in Bridgeport. All the tribal recognition groups have major financial interests behind them, due to the huge profits they know will accrue once a casino complex is established, she explained.

Attorney General Blumenthal and First Selectman Schiesel can be seen on the Newtown Democrats’ regular television program, airing on Charter cable’s Channel 21 on Fridays at noon and Tuesday evenings at 8.