Federal and State Recognition

Overview

The Constitution of the United States has a scant three references to Indians: two in Article I Section 2 providing that Indians would not be taxed, and one in Section 8 defining Congress’s power to regulate commerce with Indian tribes.  Thus, in large measure, the Constitution envisions Indian tribes to be outside of the political system of the United States and recognizes that tribes are sovereign. For a tribe to get recognition by the federal government, the tribe must file a petition with the Department of the Interior.  The criteria is extensive and are “meant to ensure that recognized tribes are distinct autonomous communities, existing as such since historical times and recognized as such since prior to 1900.”   In Connecticut, each of the tribes have had their own battles with becoming recognized by the federal government.  At this moment, the Mohegan and the Mashantucket Pequots have federal recognition while Golden Hill Paugussetts, Eastern Pequots, the Schaghticokes are recognized only by the State of Connecticut. 

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Federally Recognized Tribes

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation achieved federal recognition on October 18, 1983 when President Ronald Reagan singed the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Land Claims Settlement Act.  This act was a culmination of various land disputes concerning the illegal sale of the land by the State of Connecticut in 1856.  The Connecticut Legislature unanimously passed legislation in the early 1980s to petition the federal government to grant tribal recognition to the Pequots and to settle the land dispute. With the signing of the legislation by President Reagan, the Mashantucket Tribal Nation was granted federal recognition, allowing the tribal nation to repurchase and place in trust the land covered by the Settlement Act. 

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The Mohegan Tribal Nation

The Mohegan Tribe gained federal recognition as a sovereign nation on May 7, 1994. This recognition was the culmination of years of work for the Mohegan Tribe.   They were able to get recognized through the 1978 Bureau of Indian Affairs standards for recognition which included the following criteria as of 1994 when they were recognized: a statement of facts establishing the tribe has been identified continuously from historical times to the present, evidence that a substantial portion of the group resides in the area and are decedents from the original tribe, evidence that the tribe has continued its political authority of its members from the beginning, a copy of the tribe’s governing documents, and an official membership list. The tribe submitted over 20,000 pages of documentation. 

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ImImage from “Federal Recognition,” Mohegan Tribal Nation, https://www.mohegan.nsn.us/about/government/tribal-sovereignty/federal-recognition 

State Recognized Tribes

Eastern Pequots

The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation has been working towards federal recognition since 1978. In 2002, the Eastern Pequots were federally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. However, there were concerns about the potential for a new casino in the region from the towns of North Stonington, Ledyard and Preston and together they appealed the decision. In 2005, the Bureau of Indian Affairs revoked federal recognition for the Eastern Pequots.  Valerie Gambrell, a member of the Eastern Pequots and military veteran, said “I’m not looking at federal recognition to tell me who I am. I already know I’m Eastern Pequot. I don’t need the white man to tell me. We want to take care of our own people and we can’t do that—education, health care, our kids aren’t able to go to college because they don’t have the finances.” 

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Golden Hill Paugussetts

The Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe filed for federal recognition first in April 1982 and has long sought this recognition.  In September 1996, the Bureau of Indian Affairs declined to acknowledge the tribe’s recognition at the federal level. After another attempt and some 48,000 documents cover over 350 years of history, the Bureau of Indian Affairs once again declined their federal recognition in 2018. The Bureau cited that there was a gap in the Tribe’s 350-year genealogy.  The Tribe is also looking to settle its land claims in Connecticut which include approximately 720,000 acres in numerous towns from Waterbury to Greenwich. 

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Schaghticoke 

The Schaghticokes have sought federal recognition since 1981.  In 1986, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation split with the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe and petitioned the government for federal recognition. In 2002 during a preliminary ruling, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs denied the petition on the grounds that it had “a cohesive community or maintained continuous political leadership.”   Connecticut then recognized the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation as an official state tribe in 2004 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs granted it federal recognition.  However, the battle was not over then. After an appeal from the State of Connecticut, the Kent School Corporation, Connecticut Light and Power Company and the Town of Kent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs rescinded the federal recognition on the grounds that they had “had incorrectly used state recognition as a substantial portion of the evidence in its decision to grant federal recognition.”  Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is one of only two tribes to have their federal recognition rescinded. According to an affidavit of former Bureau of Indian Affairs Assistant Secretary Aurene Martin, their petition was “among the best and most thoroughly researched petitions ever reviewed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”   In 2022 after a lengthy three-year process, the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe filed a petition with the Bureau of Indian affairs seeking federal recognition.  It remains to be seen what the outcome of this petition will be for the Schaghticokes.

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