The Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved a land-into-trust application for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut.

The tribe filed the application for the one-acre parcel several years ago, a spokesperson said. It sits adjacent to the reservation.

The state previously tried to block the tribe from following the land-into-trust process in a case similar to Carcieri v. Salazar. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the state and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

The tribe gained federal recognition through an act of Congress. The law states that the tribe "shall be eligible for all Federal services and benefits furnished to federally recognized Indian tribes as of October 18, 1983."

In Carcieri, the Supreme Court said the land-into-trust process is available only to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" as of 1934.

Get the Story:
Ledyard surprised by plan to take land owned by Mashantuckets off tax rolls (The New London Day 8/13)