Indian faction asserts control

One Schaghticoke group ousts another

By Rick Green
Courant Staff Writher

KENT -- A tribal faction has seized control of the Schaghticoke Indian reservation so it can develop property along the Housatonic River.

Members of the faction, the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe, say they have plans for houses and unspecified "economic development."

The latest chapter in the long-running Schaghticoke saga began Friday, when Schaghticoke Indian Tribe members took over the tribe's small office and picnic pavilion, forcing out the rival Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. The two groups - who both claim to represent the historic tribe that has lived here since the 1700s - have been in a nasty and sometimes violent feud since the 1970s.

"The reservation belongs to all Schaghticokes. We want to start our economic development program here," the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe faction's chairman, Alan Russell, said Saturday. A handful of his supporters watched warily as members of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation were forced to remove belongings from the tribal offices.

The reservation - once more than 1,000 acres but winnowed down during hundreds of years of questionable and perhaps fraudulent land sales - has been at the center of a tribal recognition controversy. In October, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs denied formal federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. The recognition was bitterly opposed by leading state politicians and the town of Kent, who feared the tribe would try to open a casino if it won federal recognition.

Russell's group - with its own application for federal recognition pending before the BIA - maintains it is the true Schaghticoke tribe. Like the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe is also interested in developing a casino or bingo hall.

"We are going to open an office up. We hope to do our ... housing project," said tribal Vice Chairwoman Gail Harrison, who is Russell's sister. "Until the check is in hand, we can't say, but we do have [financial] backers."

This latest Schaghticoke episode may have been set off by comments made by Schaghticoke Tribal Nation Chief Richard Velky. In a letter to the Washington Post published a week ago, he said the tribe still planned to "aggressively" develop reservation land.

Russell, Harrison and supporters moved an office trailer onto the property Friday and told Schaghticoke Tribal Nation members they were taking over the reservation, a 400-acre parcel that includes four homes and the pavilion building, which serves as a tribal meeting area.

On Saturday, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation members said they were pulling back because they had no interest in clashing with Russell's group. They are focusing on a court appeal of the BIA's recognition decision.

"We've got bigger battles to fight," said Michael Pane, vice chairman of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. "I'm just shrugging my shoulders."

Russell's group is "just missing the picture," Pane said as Tribal Nation members quickly moved out Saturday morning. On Friday, Pane and a state police officer had come to the reservation, but no arrests were made.

Reached at home, Velky said Russell's takeover was "ridiculous at this stage of the game."

"We are looking for federal recognition," said Velky, adding that he believes the tribe's other opponents, including the town of Kent, are also behind the Russell group's actions.

Ruth Epstein, first selectwoman in Kent, said she had not heard of the latest altercation on the reservation.

"Obviously the town of Kent has had nothing to do with this," she said Saturday afternoon.

About 8 or 10 Schaghticoke Indian Tribe members and their supporters said Saturday they planned a 24-hour guard on the property, located along a dirt road beside the Housatonic River.

William Buchanan, a businessman from nearby New York state working with Russell's Schaghticoke Indian Tribe, said the rival Schaghticoke Tribal Nation "never had a reservation" in Kent.

"The Schaghticoke Indian Tribe is now in possession of the entire reservation," he said as he stoked a camp fire near the picnic pavilion.

Kevin P. Quill, a New York lawyer advising the Schaghticoke Indian Tribe, said Russell's group is going to explore all options for the property, including the possibility of developing a gambling facility.

"We do not want to change Kent or the surrounding area,"' said Quill.