justice11 wrote on Aug 10, 2014 5:23 PM: The State of Connecticut is supposed to protect the tribes, not subject them to cultural genocide. In 1821, the Connecticut General Assembly passed “An Act for the protection of Indians and the preservation of their property, and to see that they are husbanded for the best interest of the INDIANS.” Connecticut state statutes mirror Federal Acknowledgement. To Sen. Richard Blumenthal and other Connecticut elected officials: Was this Act by the State of Connecticut unlawful and illegal? Was it unlawful and illegal for the state to appoint overseers by the courts to give bonds, settle tribal accounts and so on? And on failure thereof or for any neglect of duty, such county court may remove him from office, and appoint another in his place, and, at any time, call such an overseer to account. The tribes no longer have overseers; the state itself is supposed to fill that role. At the last hearing Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN) Chief Velky asked the BIA to protect the state tribes because the State of Connecticut, as overseer, is not acting in the Tribes’ best interest. This 1821 act was written to PROTECT the INDIAN tribes, a concept that eludes Sen. Blumenthal and the other elected officials. To Attorney General Jepson: Exactly what rules did Connecticut adhere to back in 2004-2005 when then AG Blumenthal led the pack to overturn the Schaghticoke federal recognition? The Inspector General’s investigation of the Schaghticoke found that the tribe played by the rules in its quest for federal acknowledgement in 2004. Connecticut, on the other hand, played DIRTY BACK DOOR politics, using tax payer money and, yes, my money to reverse the tribe’s federal recognition -- working hard on ex parte meetings with the Interior Department, BIA, White House, working with lobbyists connected to the White House, and working hard on ex parte letters to the IBIA and Judge Dorsey. Even Judge Dorsey himself and former Gov. Jodi Rell exchanged ex-parte letters! Was that ethical or fair, Mr. Jepson? Was it ethical or fair of the BIA to bar STN from submitting additional evidence to support its claim? Mr. Jepson, you also said, ”They are getting, very unfairly, another bite at the apple” and “to have work undone by a change in the rules”. But didn’t the State of Connecticut have “another bite of the apple” when it launched its all-out attack on STN AFTER the tribe received a final determination granting federal recognition. It took over 30 years for Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to achieve their rightful Federal Recognition. By all accounts Connecticut has neglected it duties throughout its relationship with STN’s -- a history that goes back to the 1600’s -- and continues to the day. May 5, 2004 United States House Government Reform Committee held a hearing on recognition. During the hearing, Theresa Rosier, Counselor to the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs said this about the Schaghticoke and Eastern Pequot petitions for acknowledgment: “I believe the requirement and recommendations as outlined in 25 C.F.R. Part 83 is that all seven criteria must be met, and the burden of proof is that it is the reasonable likelihood of the validity of the facts. That is my job and the staff’s job, to ensure that of those 7 criteria, this burden of proof has been met.” “I cannot talk about specifics of those situations, since they are both at IBIA appeal and Schaghticoke is under an inspector general investigation. I can talk to the generalities. We feel that our petitions speak for themselves, and proposed findings gave opportunity to cure deficiencies, and they did that.” “For tribal recognition actually for the first element 83.7 (a) state recognition is explicitly stated for evidence.” “We have imposed an informal 60-day period proposed or final that the decision maker does not speak to interested parties or to the petitioning group. We are going to formalize that policy. I have not seen that type of impropriety [on the tribe’s part] that has been alleged here. We have made decisions that we found to be good public policy.” rep-am/news/local/822083.txt
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 02:29:17 +0000
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