Summer 2001

dancers holding hands around a sun

Federal Recognition Update

In January of this year, during the final hours of the Clinton administration, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs granted preliminary approval for tribal recognition to the Nipmuc Nation (the Hassanamisco Band) in Sutton, Massachusetts. The Nipmuc Nation's aboriginal lands extend into Rhode Island and Connecticut. The approval was put on hold, however, by the Bush administration. No further governmental action has been taken as yet.

A number of lawsuits are pending in federal District Court in Connecticut relating to recognition efforts. Two involve the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe. Among the issues that the Tribe is asking the Court to resolve is a request to force the Bureau of Indian Affairs to speed up its recognition process. See the Winter 1999 edition of the Quinnehtukqut Legal News. In April, the Golden Hill Paugussetts filed an action claiming that the Bureau of Indian Affairs had missed deadlines and violated their own rules.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumental also filed a suit in January of this year. This suit accuses the Bureau of Indian Affairs of acting illegally in granting preliminary approval to the Eastern Pequots and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots. Both Tribes have intervened in the case. The judge has ordered the Bureau to issue a final decision on recognition before the end of the year.

Finally, another petition for federal recognition has been filed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Tribe is called the Native American Mohegans.