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BIA: Towns not reliable
AUGUST 9, 2000
At a meeting discussing the federal recognition petitions
of two Pequot tribes, Virginia DeMarce, a Bureau of Indian Affairs researcher,
told representatives from the state of Connecticut that much of the
information sent by three local towns was unreliable.
"The material that was submitted by the towns was so carelessly and so
poorly abstracted that I could not rely on the validity of anything in it,"
responded DeMarce.
Her statement came in response to a comment by Nicholas Mullane,
First Selectman of North Stonington. Mullane said 60 percent of
the documentation sent by his town and the towns of Ledyard and
Preston was not used by the BIA.
She also said she had become "skeptical" of the information
being sent by the towns. She then advised them to hold their
researchers to a "standard of accuracy."
The first day of the meeting bringing the BIA face-to-face with some of its
most recent vocal critics was punctuated by similar statements made
by DeMarce. The day centered around how BIA researchers analyzed
if evidence submitted by the Eastern Pequot and the Paucatuck
Eastern Pequot Tribes satisfied, or did not, various federal
recognition criteria.
DeMarce and George Roth, representing the BIA Branch of Acknowledgment
and Research told town leaders, their lawyers, and Connecticut
State Attorney General the rules and precedents they used throughout
the evaluation process. DeMarce, in particular, most vocally
defended her findings in light of repeated questioning by Blumenthal
and Daniel Schaefer, his assistant.
As Department of Interior staff reminded the state of Connecticut that the meeting
was not a debate, a deposition, or a cross-examination, the pair, Blumenthal and Schaefer,
often asked the same questions over and over. DeMarce
and other panel members had to ask the state to stick to the agenda;
however, Blumenthal tried to bring up whether or not Assistant
Secretary Kevin Gover
should recuse himself from the decision making process.
Although Gover did not attend yesterday's session, the state
asked why he issued a finding in favor of the tribes, despite
staff recommendations that evidence during certain time frames
throughout their history was not sufficient.
The BIA and
representatives from the Department of Interior told them Gover was well
within his authority to issue his positive finding.
Steven Austin,
a researcher for the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Tribe and a
former BIA researcher, said the tribe is submitting
more evidence it hopes will fill in the gaps cited by
the Bureau. DeMarce accused him of using the meeting
as a means for getting particular statements into
the public record.
Austin, who worked on the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut's
recognition petition in the early 80s, refuted DeMarce's
assertion.
DeMarce also told the state that some
of the best evidence supporting the tribes came from them, not
the petitioners. Her comment came as Schaefer questioned if
the tribes' membership maintained social
contact with each other.
Inspiring laughter from about 100 attendees of the meeting, DeMarce said that when people marry each other, it usually
means they are maintaining social ties. She cited evidence of inter-tribal
and intra-tribal marriage.
The meeting continues today, although some participants may have
gotten a head start on the proceedings already. DeMarce offered to any and all attendees an one hour "tutorial"
early Wednesday morning in order to demonstrate genealogy
software used by BIA researchers.
Along with representatives from the two tribes, the towns, the state, and the Interior,
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Chairman Kenneth Reels and
John Brown of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode
Island were participants.
Ed. Note: John Brown was mistakenly identified
as Matthew Thomas, Chief Sachem of the Narragansett
Tribe.
Relevant Links:
Media Advisory, Pequot Meeting (includes map of location) -
www.doi.gov/bia/news/eastpequots.htm
The Bureau of Indian Affairs -
www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html
Eastern Pequot Preliminary Recognition -
www.doi.gov/bia/bar/epdx.htm
Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Preliminary Recognition -
www.doi.gov/bia/bar/pepdx.htm
Related Stories:
BIA meeting to
focus on recognition (Tribal Law 8/4)
Town:
Gover a 'mockery' (The Talking Circle 05/25)
Gover wants BIA
out of nastiness (Tribal Law 5/25)
Key Provisions of
the Indian Federal Recognition Administrative Procedures Act of 1999 (Tribal
Law 5/25)
BIA
eases recognition process (Tribal Law 5/22)
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