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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003

"In the ongoing battle between Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun to see who can control New England gambling, I'm rooting a little bit more for the Mohegans. For one thing, the Mashantucket Pequots, owners of Foxwoods, are not real Indians. The tribe had died out by the time it got federal recognition in the 1980s, and membership was parceled out to the friends and relatives of two old women who happened to be living on the reservation in the 1970s. A few of them claim Pequot blood -- although there's evidence that the tribe had long since ceased to exist -- but most of them don't even keep up that pretense.

The Mohegans, by contrast, are the real deal. Of course, the tribe had no money prior to federal recognition in the 1990s and the advent of gambling, but it had always maintained a tribal museum, held regular elections, and tried to maintain as many of the old traditions as possible. The last Mohegan speaker died in 1908, so there was no real tribal village, but the blood lines were more or less pure."

Get the Story:
The Vegas Guy: Mohegan Sun (UPI 2/6)