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FEBRUARY 15, 2001

A map which has put the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation at the center of a controversy over Indian issues has been located in Washington, DC, said Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz on Wednesday.

According to Bysiewicz, the original version of a map outlining the boundaries of the tribe's southeastern Connecticut reservation is at the archives of the House of Representatives. Bysiewicz is supposed to be the caretaker of the original but apparently her office never received it some 20 years ago so she has asked that it be sent to the state.

The map has been controversial because of allegations made by author Jeff Benedict in his book Without Reservation. Benedict claims the map proves the tribe was given twice the amount of land than described in the 1983 law which granted them federal recognition. Instead of the 800 acres Congress believed were being returned the tribe, Benedict says the tribe received about 2,000.

But lawyers for the tribe have discounted the suggestion and say the law delineates accurately the borders of the reservation. Still, it has fueled suspicions among local leaders who are engaged in a legal and political battle with the financially successful tribe.

Along with state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the leaders of the towns of Ledyard, North Stonington, and Preston are suing the Department of Interior for approving the addition of 165 acres to the tribe's reservation. All believe the original map can help shed light on their dispute which threatens to reach the Supreme Court.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals last fall ruled against the state and said the tribe is allowed to expand its reservation beyond the borders described in the map. Blumenthal and the towns have appealed the decision to the nation's highest court.

Their chances of reaching the Supreme Court are slim, however. during the 1999 session, the Court accepted only 137 out of over 5,000 cases it was asked to review.

Despite the slim odds, Blumenthal says he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Among other arguments, he believes the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) doesn't apply to the Pequot tribe because they weren't federally recognized when it was passed.

The IRA could be central to the dispute because it grants the Secretary of Interior the authority to accept land into trust on behalf of tribes. But Blumenthal's argument may be seen as an attempt to rewrite history and to a Supreme Court who often takes a strict view of history in its Indian law cases, it may prove futile.

Get the 2nd Circuit Decision:
Connecticut v. Babbitt (Second Circuit Court of Appeals. No. 99-6042. September 2000)

Related Stories:
EDITORIAL: Exaggeration fuels tribal debate (The Talking Circle 2/14)
EDITORIAL: Its everyone else's fault (The Talking Circle2/13)
Recognition, trust lands focus of hearing (Tribal Law 2/12)
Towns to appeal Pequot ruling (Tribal Law 11/07)