URL: https://www.indianz.com/News/archives/003668.asp

Monday, February 9, 2004

Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) has asked the General Accounting Office to investigate the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision to recognize the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.

Johnson wrote a letter to the GAO seeking answers to three questions. She wants to know why the BIA changed its mind and said sufficient evidence existed to show continuous political influence within the tribe. She also wants to know if the BIA is overstepping its authority by relying on state recognition when making rulings on tribes in Connecticut.

The BIA, in a preliminary decision, said the tribe did not qualify. But after evaluating additional evidence, researchers said the tribe met all seven mandatory criteria.

In response to a prior Congressional inquiry, GAO did not find any wrongdoing with federal recognition decisions made during the Clinton administration.

Get the Story:
Johnson Requests Immediate Federal Investigation into Schaghticoke Decision (Johnson 2/6)
Shays wants gaming probe (The Fairfield County Hour 2/9)
Johnson hits Bureau of Indian Affairs for tribe recognition (The New Haven Register 2/7)
Probe Sought On Tribe Decision (AP 2/7)
Username: indianz, Password: indianzcom
Schaghticoke Recognition Sparks Opposition (The New London Day 2/7)
Username: indianz@indianz.com, Password: indianzcom

Relevant Documents:
Federal Register Notice | BIA Statement | Richard Blumenthal Statement | Rep. Shays Statement

Relevant Links:
Schaghticoke Tribal Nation - http://www.schaghticoke.com

Related Stories:
Towns to join state in tribal recognition appeal (2/4)
Schaghticoke Tribe considering more land claims (02/02)
Schaghticoke Tribal Nation: 'Today is our day' (1/30)
Officials in Conn. to fight tribe's recognition (1/30)
Recognition decision expected for Schaghticoke Tribe (1/26)
BIA asked to reconsider tribe's membership roll (12/05)
Conn. AG wants to break court agreement with BIA (11/12)
Tribe seeking recognition purges membership rolls (10/13)
State recognized tribe allowed to sue in Conn. (07/22)
Conn. court upholds jurisdiction over tribe (05/13)
Schaghticoke chief disputes state jurisdiction (01/17)
McCaleb 'throwing away a history of people' (12/06)
Schaghticoke Tribe denied recognition (12/5)
Lawmakers attempt to thwart recognition (12/5)
Conn. tribe awaits recognition ruling (12/4)
Recognition decision expected this week (12/2)
McCaleb plans to issue recognition ruling (11/26)
McCaleb ruling holds promise for state tribes (06/25)
McCaleb makes recognition history (6/25)
BIA project consumes recognition resources (06/12)
BIA recognition staff fails pressure test (05/31)
State challenges Schaghticoke Tribe (04/19)
Tribe's recognition delayed (02/20)
Conn. tribe waiting on recognition (01/23)

All stories in the Indianz.Com Archive are available for publishing under a Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)