Copyright © 2002 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

CONNECTICUT - Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today, September 12, 2002, announced that the State will appeal the decision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) issued on June 24, 2002 to recognize the Eastern Pequot and Paucatuck Eastern Pequot groups as a single "historic Eastern Pequot tribe." Joining in the appeal will be the towns of North Stonington, Preston, and possibly others.

Blumenthal said today that this decision was made after a careful review of the BIA final determination and consultation with community groups, citizens and public officials, confirming his initial conclusion that the recognition decision is severely flawed.

"The federal recognition decision seems to defy fairness, law, and fact," Blumenthal said. "The BIA finding, if allowed to stand, could have far-reaching ramifications across Connecticut and the country by providing support for other deficient tribal petitions.

"The BIA recognition decision is impugned by serious irregularities and improprieties that are directly demonstrated by investigations done by the GAO and Interior Department Inspector General. The recognition process is overtly political and deeply flawed, and it must be reformed," Blumenthal said. "I am pleased that both Connecticut U.S. Senators have now joined my long-standing call for a moratorium on tribal recognition until this system can be fundamentally revamped."

"The towns appreciate the Attorney General's work with the towns to ensure that the BIA executes a fair and just decision that everyone can live with," said North Stonington First Selectman Nicholas Mullane.

"The Preston Board of Selectmen agrees with the Attorney General that this is a flawed decision and must be appealed," said Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon. "This decision, if allowed to stand, will further weaken an already flawed recognition process. I would hope that both Native Americans and non-Native Americans alike will support this appeal and will support efforts to create a recognition process that is objective and is not influenced by money and politics."

"The BIA itself acknowledged that there were substantial gaps in evidence for both tribal petitions. It disregarded these deficiencies and its own regulations, and distorted the relationship between the State of Connecticut and the Eastern Pequot group, to bridge the substantial and lengthy gaps in evidence," Blumenthal said.

"The BIA enabled the petitioning groups to substitute irrelevant evidence of state recognition or dealings in meeting key legal requirements," Blumenthal said. "State recognition does not suffice to meet the federal test for political community. In fact, state recognition was simply a means to provide aid in housing and other benefits to individuals of assumed Indian descent. As different as apples and oranges, state and federal recognition status have completely different purposes and standards."

In addition, Blumenthal said the BIA had no legal authority to combine the Eastern Pequot and Paucatuck Eastern Pequot groups, which have been split for decades and unable to resolve conflicts on their own.

"There is no single political community embracing the two groups, as they have demonstrated in their conflicting petitions," Blumenthal said. "There is no legal authority to recognize a single Eastern Pequot tribe when two separate groups seek that sovereign status and deny each other's right to it. Federal tribal recognition should be granted only to tribes that merit it by meeting all the legally established criteria. Groups that meet all these criteria should receive recognition."

The appeal will raise additional issues, including:

A substantial lack of evidence of a distinct social community and political authority throughout the 20th century in contravention of mandatory recognition criteria; and Significant procedural irregularities in the BIA's adjudications of the petitions, as identified in recent reports by the U.S. General Accounting Office and the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior.

The appeal, formally called a request for reconsideration, will be brought to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) before the September 28, 2002 deadline. The acknowledgement of the Eastern Pequot tribe will not become final until the appeal process is completed.