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FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2002

"When “Without Reservation” appeared a few years ago, blurbs from the publisher said [Jeff] Benedict's book would show that the Pequots weren't really Pequots. The author clarified this early on, albeit probably not strongly enough. His point, he said, was that the tribe hadn't produced definitive proof of 17th century Pequot ancestry or a continuous tribal community.

There's a difference.

Reels is right that Benedict, an amateur genealogist, never proved that he isn't a Pequot. But if the tribe is serious about putting Benedict's campaign to rest, it should do more than put the Reels family tree on file at its $200 million Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, touted, justifiably in most cases, as a model of historic research.

The tribe hired the best in the business to re-create an authentic 17th century Pequot village with amazingly lifelike figures. Surely it can afford to mount an accessible, detailed and decipherable exhibit that would show what was happening in each succeeding decade on the reservation and who was living there, profiling key figures and how they fit into the long-term picture. . ."

Get the Story:
Beth Dufresne: Tribe Could Do Better On Genealogy (The New London Day 8/23)

Related Stories:
Tribal critic performed shoddy research (8/22)