This Hard Land

Foxwoods Resort Casino, the fourth-largest casino in the world, rises from the woods of eastern Connecticut as if it were something out of the Wizard of Oz. Two-lane roads winding through the countryside of Ledyard and North Staunton turn into highways directing traffic to Foxwoods Resort Casino's various towers, hotels, restaurants and shops. Ornate signs welcome visitors to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, where I've seen John Oliver perform stand-up, sampled Guy Fieri's junk-can nachos and won $60 on slot machines. Four miles down the road, I'm looking for the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation. And I'm lost. I met Mitchell Ray, a member of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Council, on one of the oldest Native American reservations in the country. But there are no highways, no road signs, nothing to tell me if I'm in the right place. My GPS led me to a bank in Chelsea Groton. Then I stopped at a farm stop to ask for directions. The woman at the counter doesn't know the East Pequots. She thought I was looking for the Mashantucket Pequot reservation.

I called Ray, and we drove through residential areas, past Texas Steerstair Farm, onto a long gravel road, and onto a winding driveway.

Four centuries ago, up to 8, 000 Pecos occupied the shores of Long Island Sound from the Niantic River to western Rhode Island. But in the mid-1630s, newly acquired European settlers declared war on the Pecos, killing or enslaving thousands. In an attack on the Pequot village of Mystic, hundreds of Pequot men, women, children, and elders are believed to have been killed in a single day. Two small bands of Pequot people survived the massacre, one coming under the control of the neighboring Mohegan tribe to the west, and the other retreating to the east.

The western group eventually became known as the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, and they were federally recognized by an act of Congress supported by the Connecticut delegation and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The neighboring tribe, the Mohegan, was recognized in 1994.

The eastern group became known as Eastern Pecot, and in 1978 began activities for the Federal Approval. More than 40 years after the highly political battle, they are still fighting.

I am proud of my Subaru next to Ray. He came from his home in Fairfield County at least twice a week for a tribal meeting. Ley, like Pecot's other eastern leaders, is also a volunteer.

On a rare and warm autumn Saturday, the settlement is quiet. There are several simple houses and several campsites along the vacant lot. According to Ray, about 1, 200 members of Eastern Pecot Tribal Nation, most of them live in the 22 5-acre residence covered by forests.

"The west settlement is vast.

"It's like someone's parking lot."

The grounded grassland is a place where tribes hold a pawow as a ritual, and are a festival where hundreds of tribes and friends participate every day. Rei showed the community garden that the tribes wanted to expand and pointed to the sacred burial site. Before that, Ran Hong, Pansy, Pansy, Guen (19) saw a pavilion just built with the $ 10, 000 "Davis Project for Peace" awarded this summer.

Opposite the pavilion, Leon C. Boykin, a member of the tribe, is doing trucks in his home garden. At that 50 feet, Ray showed me what was excavated by archeologists and students at Boston School of Massachusetts.

"I think it's a school building with only one old room," Ray says. "I always find something because there are many untouched lands. It's a forest now, but it's all new." "

Immediately in the Dig, a new natural promenade sewing the forest of East Pecotts is being maintained. Botanical and Environmental Studies, Associate Professor Chad Jones and a systematic botanical student, have created a map of trails in cooperation with tribal members, and identified the plants that Native Americans have traditionally used. Last summer, the students surveyed the names of native American plants, and now they set up signs along the trail, create maps and pamphlets, and provide additional information on those that are growing along this trail. It is a plan to launch a website corresponding to the listed QR code.

Ray hopes that the pavilion will be the starting point for the Walk Walk (like an outdoor museum that anyone who is interested in learning about the culture of the eastern Peco and indigenous people can participate). In the summer, a tribal race was held. This fall, Professor Eric Voxevich (botanical science) instructed mushroom hunting for tribes and Kon students.

"Participation is a problem, even for official tribes. We hope that we can gather and participate through archeological excavation, botanical walking, and tribal efforts," said Rei. say.

Deep deep in the forest, Ray concepts a loop road with new houses. He knows it is a high ambition.

"If there is no place to work, it will be difficult to recall people here," he says. "We live in the same way as everyone.

Mitchell Ray in a reserved area. Photo: Misha Friedman

On the Eastern Pecot website, Valerie Gamblel says, "My goal is to regain the tribal federal approval."

Gamblel, a soldier, who has been a social worker in the State Children's Home Bureau for more than 20 years, has been "countless years" as a member of the Eastern Pecot tribal council. He worked as an auditor. Her two adults are also members of the tribal council.

"I don't ask for who I am for the approval of the federal government. I know I'm an Eastern Pecot. There is no reason to be told by whites." 。 "We want to take care of our tribes, but we can't do that, because we can't afford education, medical care, and children."

Eastern Pecot's state certification is older than the state itself, 93 years before the independent declaration signing, when the King of England and the Connecticut colonies gave the tribe land. However, only the tribes approved by the federal government have unique autonomy (third sovereignty), and specific interests, services, and protection by the federal government, such as economic development, education, medical care, and housing assistance. Have the right to receive. < SPAN> Ray hopes that this pavilion will function as a starting point for the walk walk (like an outdoor museum that anyone who is interested in learning about the culture of the Eastern Peco and indigenous people can participate). I am. In the summer, a tribal race was held. This fall, Professor Eric Voxevich (botanical science) instructed mushroom hunting for tribes and Kon students.

"Participation is a problem, even for official tribes. We hope that we can gather and participate through archeological excavation, botanical walking, and tribal efforts," said Rei. say.

Deep deep in the forest, Ray concepts a loop road with new houses. He knows it is a high ambition.

"If there is no place to work, it will be difficult to recall people here," he says. "We live in the same way as everyone.

Mitchell Ray in a reserved area. Photo: Misha Friedman

On the Eastern Pecot website, Valerie Gamblel says, "My goal is to regain the tribal federal approval."

Gamblel, a soldier, who has been a social worker in the State Children's Home Bureau for more than 20 years, has been "countless years" as a member of the Eastern Pecot tribal council. He worked as an auditor. Her two adults are also members of the tribal council.

"I don't ask for who I am for the approval of the federal government. I know I'm an Eastern Pecot. There is no reason to be told by whites." 。 "We want to take care of our tribes, but we can't do that, because we can't afford education, medical care, and children."

Eastern Pecot's state certification is older than the state itself, 93 years before the independent declaration signing, when the King of England and the Connecticut colonies gave the tribe land. However, only the tribes approved by the federal government have unique autonomy (third sovereignty), and specific interests, services, and protection by the federal government, such as economic development, education, medical care, and housing assistance. Have the right to receive. Ray hopes that the pavilion will be the starting point for the Walk Walk (like an outdoor museum that anyone who is interested in learning about the culture of the eastern Peco and indigenous people can participate). In the summer, a tribal race was held. This fall, Professor Eric Voxevich (botanical science) instructed mushroom hunting for tribes and Kon students.

"Participation is a problem, even for official tribes. We hope that we can gather and participate through archeological excavation, botanical walking, and tribal efforts," said Rei. say.

Deep deep in the forest, Ray concepts a loop road with new houses. He knows it is a high ambition.

"If there is no place to work, it will be difficult to recall people here," he says. "We live in the same way as everyone.

Mitchell Ray in a reserved area. Photo: Misha Friedman

On the Eastern Pecot website, Valerie Gamblel says, "My goal is to regain the tribal federal approval."

Gamblel, a soldier, who has been a social worker in the State Children's Home Bureau for more than 20 years, has been "countless years" as a member of the Eastern Pecot tribal council. He worked as an auditor. Her two adults are also members of the tribal council.

"I don't ask for who I am for the approval of the federal government. I know I'm an Eastern Pecot. There is no reason to be told by whites." 。 "We want to take care of our tribes, but we can't do that, because we can't afford education, medical care, and children."

Eastern Pecot's state certification is older than the state itself, 93 years before the independent declaration signing, when the King of England and the Connecticut colonies gave the tribe land. However, only the tribes approved by the federal government have unique autonomy (third sovereignty), and specific interests, services, and protection by the federal government, such as economic development, education, medical care, and housing assistance. Have the right to receive.

In 2002, the Eastern Pequot tribe was federally recognized by the U. S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs after the BIA agreed to consider together two separate petitions submitted by two different Eastern Pequot groups. However, the state and the towns of North Staunton, Ledyard, and Preston, concerned about the impact of a potential third casino in the area where Foxwoods and the Mohegan Tribe's Mohegan Sun opened in the 1990s, appealed the decision.

Following the appeal, the BIA formally revoked the Eastern Pequot's federal recognition in 2005. The Eastern Pequots sued in 2012 to have their recognition reinstated. In 2015, state officials successfully lobbied for new rules that would prohibit tribes previously denied recognition from reapplying.

"We started this process way back in the 1970s, long before there were casinos," he said. "We just want a fair process."