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SEPTEMBER 21, 2000

The US District Court for the District of Connecticut will decide if the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is an Indian tribe for purposes of federal recognition.

Ruling that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has taken too long to decide on the tribe's petition for acknowledgment, Judge Peter C. Dorsey last week decided to take the matter into his own hands.

Dorsey's move is not a rare occurrence, as courts in the past have ruled on the status of an Indian tribe. But ever since the Department of Interior instituted its federal acknowledgment regulations in 1978, courts, Congress, and the President have relied on the BIA to make decisions on tribes.

Additionally, petitioning groups who receive adverse decisions from the BIA can appeal to the US District Court for the District of Columbia for a determination on their status. The Miami Nation of Indiana and the Ramapough of New Jersey are currently in litigation in the court system.

But the last time a court in the New England took up the recognition issue, it resulted in a negative ruling for the Mashpee Wampanoag of Massachusetts. The tribe, who have been on the BIA's "Ready" list awaiting a decision on their status since 1996, filed a land claims lawsuit against a local town in 1976.

After a jury found that the Mashpee did not exist as an Indian tribe during certain crucial periods that would have aided their case, US District Judge Walter J. Skinner denied the tribe's claims in 1978. An appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals failed in 1979 and the Supreme Court turned down the case in 1980.

The Schaghticoke might hope to avoid these difficulties, although they've had problems of their own. Lawsuits filed by the tribe have been put on hold because the tribe isn't federally recognized. Last month, the BIA turned down the tribe's attempt to intervene in the recognition efforts of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe of Connecticut.

The tribe began its recognition attempts in 1981 and have been on the BIA's "Ready" list since 1997. The tribe's lawyer will ask Judge Dorsey to apply the BIA's standards in deciding the issue.

Relevant Links:
The US District Court for the District of Connecticut - www.ctd.uscourts.gov

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Schaghticoke free to close Appalachian Trail (Tribal Law 06/29)
Schaghticoke may close Appalachian Trail (Tribal Law 06/28)

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