From Bill Cummings, CT Post:
A proposed change in how Indian tribes are federally recognized could revive long dormant plans to build an Indian casino in Bridgeport and elsewhere in the state.
The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs is considering new rules that many believe would make it much easier for tribes like the Golden Hill Paugussett Indians in Trumbull and the Schaghticoke Indians in Kent to gain recognition, which brings the ability to offer gambling on federally held reservation land.
Under the proposed rule change, tribes would only have to trace their ancestry and continuity as a tribal organization back to 1934. Tribes must now show continuity and ancestry dating back to “first contact,” which in Connecticut means the 1600s.
“This is a real watershed change, an upheaval moment in the whole tribal recognition process to so lower the bar and dilute the standards,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn
Full story here.
Better late than never.
touch.courant.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76585060/