digital painting: "Ballek's Garden Center

 

About Indigenous people in Connecticut

The question was raised: "What indigenous peoples had rights to the land in what is now called East Haddam? i imagine the land was ripped from them by Europeans like the rest of what is now North America."

A Brief Reply: Pequot, Mohegan, Paugussett, Schaghticoke, Quinnipiac, Niantics, Nipmunk, Massabesic, Narraganset.

The name "Connecticut" comes from a Native American word, "quinatucquet", roughly meaning "beside the long tidal river." It refers to the Connecticut River, which cuts through the middle of the state.

In 1786, the United States established its first Native American reservation and approached each tribe as an independent nation. This policy remained intact for more than one hundred years.

The Mohegan Tribe gained federal recognition as a sovereign nation on March 7, 1994. However, the Mohegan nation has existed in southeastern Connecticut for hundreds of years and as part of the indigenous North American population for 10,000 years. Native peoples have lived together, celebrated traditions together and struggled to survive together as a Tribe through many dark years.

Federal recognition has given the Mohegan Tribe the opportunity to conduct itself as a sovereign nation. To get there, the Tribe had to meet strict criteria, but was able to meet these high standards of proof and answer questions about why the Tribe would take the trouble.

Federal recognition for the Mohegan Tribe was the culmination of years of work.

Several tribal nations have lived on and maintained reservation lands since the Euro-colonial days, and are regarded as sovereign nations now.

The Pequots and the Mohegans now own and run two of the world's biggest casinos, both located close to where I work. Other tribal nations in Connecticut (Paugussett, Schaghticoke) have made valiant efforts gain recognition but have not been as successful at having their sovereign rights recognized or respected.