Indian group hires lawyer in case involving Shamong land

By Richard Pearsall

Courier-Post Staff

James Brent Thomas Sr., the Indian leader laying claim to a large part of Shamong on behalf of his tribal group, has retained a national law firm to represent him and the Unalachtigo Band in federal court.

The firm of Reed Smith, with offices in Princeton, joined the case this week.

It did so two days before a court-imposed deadline for Thomas, who had been representing himself, to obtain an attorney or face dismissal of the suit. Federal court rules prohibit nonlawyers from appearing on behalf of a group.

Thomas and the Unalachtigo Band, a group of Lenni Lenape Indians based in Bridgeton, filed suit last year contending they are the rightful owners of the former Brotherton Reservation, an approximately 3,000-acre tract in what is now Shamong.

The band's stated goal is to establish casino gambling, either on that site or, via exchange, in a state park in Westampton that is leased to the Powhatan Renape Nation and used as a cultural center.

In an answer to the Unalachtigo suit, the attorney for Burlington County filed papers with U.S. District Court in Camden contending the Unalachtigo Band, lacking federal recognition as a tribe, has no legal standing to assert its claims.

Anthony Drollas, a member of the Capehart Scatchard law firm of Trenton, which is representing Burlington County, and Thomas Burns, an attorney with Reed Smith, both declined to comment.

In a related development, Thomas and the Unalachtigo have charged another Indian group -- the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape, also of Bridgeton -- with breach of a 2002 consent agreement in which the two groups agreed not to speak ill of one another.

The charge of breaching the agreement stems from a meeting of the state's Native American Affairs Commission in January at which Thomas and the Unalachtigo Band came under fire for proposing casino gambling.

Representatives of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape present at the meeting acknowledged that Thomas and others associated with his group are Native Americans -- Nanticoke Lenni Lenapes, in fact -- but questioned the legitimacy of their organization and Thomas' position as chief.

The consent agreement reached in 2002 settled a suit filed by the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Indians against the Unalachtigo Band of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape Nation, charging infringement on their name.

The Brotherton Reservation was established in 1758 but disbanded in 1801 at the request of the Indians still living there, who asked for and received compensation and moved to New York state.

The agreement was never ratified by Congress, however, a failure cited by the Unalachtigo -- and the Delaware of Oklahoma before it -- as violating a 1790 act of Congress requiring ratification and invalidating the sale.

Thomas envisions the construction of a resort at the state park in Westampton, including a golf course and hotel as well as a casino.

Both state and Powhatan Renape officials oppose such a venture.