| A publication of Pine Tree Legal Assistance |
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is poised on the razor’s edge of victory or defeat as it awaits a court decision in its ongoing struggle for federal recognition. The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN) was recognized by the U.S. government as a tribe in January of 2004. Then, in October of 2005, the tables turned, and the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs reversed the decision to recognize the tribe. The reversal was based upon a finding that STN was not a tribal community continuously from historical times to the present. The Department of the Interior found that there were gaps in the history of the tribal community and its government. The federal recognition of the Eastern Pequots and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots was also reversed at the same time.
STN appealed the denial of federal recognition. On March 20, 2007 the U. S. District Court for the District of Connecticut decided that the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation could continue to collect evidence in its fight for federal recognition. In the appeal, STN argued to Federal District Court Judge Peter Dorsey that the decision to deny federal recognition was not based on evidence that the tribal community and its political structure did not exist. Rather, STN argued, the denial was based on the fact that wealthy groups living in the region of its reservation influenced the decision of the Interior Department officials. These groups include TASK, a well-funded anti-Indian group in Kent, Connecticut where the Schaghticokes' have a 400 acre reservation. This group does not want a casino built in its neighborhood.
STN got evidence of the alleged improper influence from documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Based upon this information, STN requested and was allowed to take testimony from the former Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, and from her Associate Deputy, James Cason. In her deposition testimony from this past January, Secretary Norton revealed that Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia had threatened to fire her if she did not reverse her decision. After that happened, Secretary Norton gave the case to her deputy, James Cason, who reversed the decision to recognize STN.
Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, has vigorously fought STN's appeal. He has objected to further requests for documents and depositions by STN. In July, Judge Dorsey decided to deny the Schaghticokes' requests for further testimony and documents from new sources. However, the judge did allow STN to finish gathering evidence from TASK's lobbying firm, Barbour, Griffith and Rogers (BGR), an extremely powerful Washington lobbying firm. Now STN must wait for Judge Dorsey’s ruling. If he finds for STN, its legal battle can continue. If he finds for the federal government and the State of Connecticut, then another door will close on the tribe’s future.