Without
Reservation: The Making of America's Most Powerful Indian Tribe and Foxwoods
the World's Largest Casino
How
to take advantage of a corrupt government and a president with no knowledge or
concern for the traditional people!
This
review is from: Without Reservation: The Making of America's Most Powerful
Indian Tribe and Foxwoods the World's Largest Casino (Hardcover)
This
story is another follow up of
The
forgotten Indians without Filed under: Sachem's words — Leave a comment October
29, 2012
One
of the many things you need to remember while reading the rest of this posting.
The three women spoken about were Mohegan not Pequot as part of some families
sent over years earlier to occupy the village so as not to lost it to the
Europeans.
My
family is from Uncasvillage just accross the Pequot river.
"Without
Reservation: The Making of America's Most Powerful Indian Tribe and Foxwoods,
the World's Largest Casino" by Jeff Benedict is an absorbing portrait of
an extraordinary phenomenon - the emergence from obscurity within the past
three decades of the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe and their rapid climb to
unparalleled wealth through their Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. I am
sure that many people view these events as a particularly gratifying example of
a "rags to riches" story, given the justifiable sympathy now widely
felt towards Native Americans after centuries of betrayal and injustice.
However, as someone who has spent most of his adult life as a resident of
southeastern Connecticut and who is personally acquainted with some of the
people discussed in Benedict's book, I have been long aware that the story of
the Pequot's and their casino is more complex and perhaps less inspirational
than might appear at first glance.
"Without Reservation" raises serious questions about whether
the Mashantucket Pequot's are who they claim to be, a legitimate tribe of
Native Americans. Simply put, are they instead merely opportunists claiming an
Indian identity to fraudulently cash in on laws and programs intended to help
genuine Native Americans? Some historic tribes in the East after centuries of
intermarriage with persons of European and/or African descent and through
acculturation with the white society have ceased to exist. According to
Benedict's research, Richard "Skip" Hayward, the leader who
formulated and led the supposed resurrection of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe
in the 1970's, has no traceable Pequot ancestry at all. Benedict contends that
Hayward's entire Indian descent comes solely through his
great-great-grandfather, a man who identified himself not as a Pequot, but as a
Narragansett (ironically, the Narragansett's were one of the tribes who allied
themselves with the English during the 17th Century war which destroyed the
power of the original Pequot tribe). Records indicate that Hayward had
consistently identified himself as being "white" until the mid-1970's
when it suddenly became advantageous to claim he was a Native American to gain
possession of the small "Western Pequot" reservation maintained by
the State of Connecticut and to pursue a legal claim against neighboring
properties. Benedict further asserts that the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, when
granted Federal recognition by a special Act of Congress in 19XX, would have
been wholly unable to meet the Bureau of Indian Affairs requirements for such
Federal recognition. In his view, many people, sincere in their desire to help
Native Americans obtain financial and cultural security, were deceived into
supporting a fraudulent cause and unintentionally allowed a small group of
imposters to gain extraordinary power by operating a gambling casino shielded
from taxation and state regulation. The enormous quantity of dollars flowing
through Foxwoods Casino has radically altered the economic structure of the
region, for good or ill, and has given the Mashantucket's enormous clout
through their frequent and heavy contributions to political parties and elected
officials.
Hayward as presented in Benedict's book is a fascinating paradox. Is he
a charismatic visionary who followed his dream to skillfully lead his people
into wealth and independence, or is he a deceptive manipulator who lied and
cheated nearly everyone en route to personal riches and influence? The answer
supplied by Benedict's book seems to be that Hayward is both. "Without
Reservation" does not stop with Skip Hayward's climb to wealth and power,
but continues on through his subsequent fall from tribal leadership, overthrown
by other Mashantucket's whose claim of Pequot identity is as suspect as that of
Hayward himself. The picture which Benedict paints is one of naked greed and
arrogance rising to the top.
I am certain that some people will dismiss Benedict's book as being
"anti-Indian", but that is not the case. His contention is that the
Mashantucket Pequot's are simply not an Indian tribe in any genuine sense of
the term, and that they have taken advantage of and have perverted situations
created for the benefit of actual Native American peoples. I am equally certain
that his claims will be vigorously denounced by the Mashantucket's, and I
eagerly look forward to seeing what evidence, if any, can be produced to
counter Benedict's arguments.
Jeff Benedict has written a book which tells a compelling story,
although undoubtedly it will not be the final word on the subject. It is a
story skillfully told in a gripping narrative which vividly depicts the actors
in the drama: the Mashantucket's, the politicians, the ordinary citizens who
woke up to find the world's largest casino springing to life in their rural
community, and of course the ever-present lawyers, eager to distort and shade
the truth in their roles of advocates (or in their chase of the big bucks).
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