More about Schaghticoke

STN Home Page: http://www.schaghticoke.com/index.html

“The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has been recognized by the Colony and then the State of Connecticut as a separate and distinct American Indian tribal entity continually from historic time through the 20th century. Today, the Tribe has approximately 300 members.
The historical and spiritual base of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is the Tribe's approximately 400-acre reservation in Kent, Connecticut. The reservation is mountainous and rocky, with a small strip of flatland located on a flood plain along the Housatonic River.
After decades of state policy to remove tribal members from the reservation, few currently live there. The vast majority of Tribal members reside in Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties, along traditional Schaghticoke seasonal migratory routes along the Housatonic that were first documented in the 18th century.
From 1925 to 1972, Connecticut intensified a policy of detribalization and termination, making it extremely difficult for tribal members to live and gather on the Reservation. Tribal members were forced out, while those wanting to return home were refused permission. Except for farming, no business could be transacted and no buildings or improvements could be added without the written consent of the state. This anti-Indian policy is underscored by the fact that there were no public powwows on the Reservation between 1941 and 1972. All in all, tribal members recall, the Reservation was a "difficult place to live and survive" during this century…”
About the photos: These are some copies of Wtby Newspaper photos of the Last Pow Wow at the Kent CT Resevation, given to me by Marcia C. Grenier that she found in the archives of the Watertown (CT) Historical Society.

http://www.schaghticoke.com/index.php?page=history.modern
Posted: June 20, 2008 by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today:
“After months of seeking state protection, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has filed complaints of human rights violations against three state agencies for refusing to help stop the desecration and destruction of tribal property. The complaints were filed with the state's Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities in April and May. Two complaints were filed by STN Chief Richard Velky against state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office and the Department of Environmental Protection. A third was filed by tribal council member Joseph Velky Jr., the chief's nephew, against the Connecticut State Police. The complaints charge that the agencies are violating human rights and state statutes by ''not enforcing the state laws to protect our tribal property, because the respondent [DEP] doesn't want to recognize the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation as a Native American entity. My complaints about destruction of tribal property are being ignored because I am a member of a Native American tribe.'' Joseph Velky Jr.'s complaint says the law enforcement agency refused to put his complaint in writing. All three stage agencies have refused to help, claiming that a ''tribal leadership dispute'' prevents them from intervening to protect the land. Velky said the state is claiming a leadership dispute in order to ''divide and conquer...''
Full article: http://www.schaghticoke.com/popup.php?page=media&id=72