Summer 2004

Federal Recognition Update

Bureau of Indian Affairs Denies Recognition to Golden Hill Paugussetts

In June of 1995, the Bureau of Indian Affairs refused to Acknowledge the Golden Hill Paugussetts, finding that the Tribe had provided little or no evidence that it met one of the seven required criterion-that its members be descended from an historical Indian Tribe. The Bureau, therefore, refused to even consider the Tribe's petition. In May of 1999, the Bureau agreed to review the petition but, in January of 2003, the Bureau issued a proposed finding declining to acknowledge the Tribe.

On June 15, 2004, the Bureau issued its final determination rejecting the Tribe's request for recognition. The Bureau found that the Paugussetts did not satisfy four of the seven criteria needed for recognition - failing to prove that the Tribe had been identified as an American Indian entity on a continuous basis since 1900; that most of the Tribe is a community that has existed from historical times until the present; that the tribe has had political influence or authority over its members since historical times; and that the tribe's membership must be made up of descendants from a historical Indian Tribe. The Bureau found that the Tribe had not shown that the Golden Hill group and the Turkey Hill group were in fact one Tribe. It also found problems with the Tribe's attempt to show that its members were of Indian descent. The Tribe has stated that it will appeal the decision.