The Connecticut towns have sent a letter to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that asks Congress to impose limits on the ability of tribes to acquire trust lands.

The leaders of North Stonington, Ledyard and Preston said the $18.5 billion Indian gaming industry has changed everything. They said tribes are "empowered by their great financial success to purchase vast amounts of land and then seek to have it taken into trust," The Norwich Bulletin reported.

The towns and the state of Connecticut made a similar argument in a court case arguing that the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is not legally entitled to trust lands because it was not recognized at the time of the Indian Reorganization Act and has become financially successful. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected this line of thought and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Get the Story:
Towns suggest land trust reform (The Norwich Bulletin 6/3)

Relevant Links:
NIGC Indian Land Determinations - http://www.nigc.gov/nigc/nigcControl?option=LAND_DETERMINATIONS
Land into Trust, National Congress of American Indians - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/issues/
governance/land_into_trust.asp

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