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SEPTEMBER 28, 2000

The pleas of three Connecticut towns to aid them in their fight against local Pequot tribes has so far fallen on deaf ears.

A Congressional investigation before the House Committee on Resources will not happen this legislative session, said a committee spokesman. Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), who will be stepping down, told The Hill last week that he wasn't going to conduct one.

The Resources spokesman said the towns are better off dealing with the Department of Interior directly. But their experiences with the federal recognition petitions of the Eastern Pequot and Paucatuck Eastern Pequot tribes has led them to distrust the Interior.

Similarly, town leaders say no one from surrounding communities has helped them in their so far unsuccessful fight against the annexation of more land to the Mashantucket Pequot reservation. "I'm amazed my phones aren't ringing off the hook with mayors and selectmen from across the region asking what they can do to help," Ledyard Mayor Wesley Johnson told The New London Day.

Get the Ruling:
Connecticut v. Babbitt (Second Circuit Court of Appeals. No. 99-6042. September 2000)

Get the Story:
Towns' request for probe not getting anywhere (The New London Day 9/28)
Tribe not in market to buy more land (The New London Day 9/28)

Related Stories:
Does a Pequot empire await? (Tribal Law 9/27)
Court rules against anti-Pequot towns (Tribal Law 9/26)
Towns optimistic about Pequot suit (Tribal Law 06/15)

Relevant Links:
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals - www.law.pace.edu/lawlib/legal/us-legal/judiciary/second-circuit.html