"Not long ago, over the summer, the hopes of the Shinnecock Indians of eastern Long Island to finally open a casino appeared dashed by a group called the Connecticut Coalition for Gaming Jobs.

The coalition, which refused through lobbyists and spokespersons to identify its principal members, filed a last-minute appeal of the Shinnecocks' federal recognition.

Officials of the New York tribe were disheartened to think that their decades-long quest for federal recognition, and the right to open a casino, was going to get bogged down in more bureaucratic appeals.

Instead, a federal judge in October brushed aside the coalition's protest petition, and the Shinnecocks became a federally recognized tribe, ready to begin negotiating a compact with the state that will allow them to open a casino on Long Island.

Spokespersons for both the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegan Indians in Connecticut denied that their tribes had anything to do with the Connecticut Coalition for Gaming Jobs, when asked about the new group over the summer.

I believe them."

Get the Story:
David Collins: Connecticut tribes must welcome a new tribal casino (The New London Day 1/9)