Summer 2001

judge

Native American Legal Briefs:

--Tribal Name as Trade Name--

Connecticut Supreme Court Rules All Native Americans of Mohegan Descent Are Allowed To Call Themselves "Mohegan"

In February of this year, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued a decision in a case brought by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, which owns and operates the Mohegan Sun Casino in Montville. The Tribe had asked the court to prevent The Mohegan Tribe and Nation and The Confederation of the Mohegan-Pequot American Indian Nation and Affiliated Tribes, Inc. from using the name "Mohegan." The case deals with issues of trademark law.

The Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut filed this case because the Tribe believed that the use of the name "Mohegan" by other Tribes would harm both its casino operations and the Tribe's ability to "preserve the culture, heritage and traditions of ... the Mohegan People."

The Supreme Court disagreed with the Tribe. Discussing trademark law, the Court noted that, in order to prevent others from using a trademark, a plaintiff must show that its trademark "is sufficiently distinctive to be worthy of protection." If a trademark is only "generic," however, it cannot be protected.

The Court concluded that the word "Mohegan" was, in fact, a generic name. The Court stated:

"Mohegan" is ... a term relating to or characteristic of a whole group or class, that may be used by any person of Mohegan heritage to identify himself or herself as a member of that particular group of Native American people. Indeed, a person of Mohegan ancestry cannot be deprived of the right to call himself or herself Mohegan, for there is no other term that can be used to refer to that unique and distinct ancestral group.

The Court also rejected the Tribe's argument that it was the only group allowed to call itself "Mohegan" since it was the only Mohegan Tribe to have received federal acknowledgement. The Court pointed out that the Mohegan Tribe and Nation had applied for federal acknowledgement and may yet be successful. The fact that the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut has already gotten federal recognition does not mean that another Tribe cannot be recognized as a Mohegan Tribe.