The Republican Congresswoman publicly announced her Schaghticoke Acknowledgement Repeal Act of 2005 at a press conference in Kent, Connecticut. She told the Hartford Courant that the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) decision to recognize the tribe was "erroneous and unlawful."
Republican Congressmen Christopher Shays and Rob Simmons cosponsored Johnson’s bill.
During the press conference, Johnson explained how the tribe’s federal recognition would place an unnecessary burden on western Connecticut residents who would be forced to pay increased taxes for a tribe that did not deserve federal recognition. She claims that the BIA’s decision was unlawful because the agency ignored pertinent evidence and manipulated federal regulations, including the necessary seven criteria a tribe must meet to be recognized on a federal level.
Johnson is also concerned that the tribe plans to expand their reservation and build a casino, which would bring increased traffic to Connecticut, according to the Hartford Courant.
Richard Velky, the Schaghticoke Nation's tribal chief since 1987, explained in a phone interview that his tribe followed all rules pertaining to federal recognition.
Now that the tribe has "successfully reached the final threshold," Velky said, "Johnson has forgotten her promise from years back that she would fully support the final decision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs."
Velky described Johnson’s current actions as similar to "tactics utilized nearly half a century ago."
"I cannot believe Johnson will be successful in convincing Congress to move backward and not forward," he said. "Congress will not be willing to trample on 50 years of work."
Johnson’s offices in Connecticut and Washington, D.C., failed to return phone calls for comment.
The Schagticoke Nation currently comprises 300 members living on 400 acres in western Connecticut, according to the Hartford Courant. The Schagticoke Nation filed its first letter of intent for federal recognition with the BIA in 1981.
According to one of the tribe’s lawyers, Judi Shapiro, Johnson’s reaction to the federal government’s acknowledgement of this tribe illustrates her "narrow views." Shapiro said Johnson is more concerned about increased tax burdens and the possible threat of a casino than the rights granted by the federal government to the Schaghticoke tribe.
"The tribe has legally and successfully completed the rigorous process asked of them by the federal government in order to receive federal recognition," Shapiro said.
When the Bureau of Indian Affairs determined that the Schaghticoke tribe was a federally recognized entity in January 2004, Johnson immediately called for an investigation by the Department of the Interior. According to Shapiro, the investigation concluded that Johnson’s appeal held no merit, and that the Schaghticoke tribe had stayed within the rules of the federal government while seeking recognition.
Johnson’s legislation is the first in 40 years to try to revoke federal
recognition of a tribe.
