Native American Civil Rights: The Connecticut Schaghticoke Tribal Nation
Introduction: How a Suburban Connecticut White Boy Met a Real Life Indian Tribe for the First Time in Connecticut - of All Places
Like any other suburban kid growing up in 1950's suburban America, I spent my share of time watching “Western” movies with their stereotypical depiction of Native Americans as blood thirsty nomads living off the land in the American West.
The media’s portrayal softened and then radicalized over the ensuing decades, the white man taking his rightful turn in modern depictions as genocidal demon. Thanks to a generation of hard-working modern historians, the public idea of Native American Tribes began to be truly revealed as a fully formed culture closely connected to the natural world living in virtual communities so evolved as to serve as a model for this country’s founding fathers when designing our unique system of self-government.
My real life experience with Native Americans began in law school where I participated in the Native American Civil Rights movement that began in Maine with the litigation of Tribal land-right claims that set the stage for the establishment of Connecticut casinos several years later.
My next experience with Native Americans came about years later, when, in the mid-1990's, I was invited to join the Board of the American Indian Institute in Litchfield, Connecticut (this case came about as a result of my involvement in the Probate / Conservatorship litigation against the State’s largest law firm and Bank described elsewhere in this website).
The Tribe’s legal journey to obtain its rightful claim to federal recognition was a hard fought and fascinating journey. One of only four Tribes with State recognized reservations, the Schaghticoke’s had a historical pedigree that was recognized by all knowledgeable experts as the most authentic among Connecticut’s Tribes.