These Are Not Indians

Abstract

american indian quarterly/fall 2002/vol. 26, no. 4 643 I’ve lived in Connecticut for a decade now. That is longer than I have lived anywhere else. I’ve never lived in the South, but have lived twenty miles from Berkeley, California. I’ve also lived in Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. When I came east, I thought it would be for just a short while. Here it is, ten years later. I like it here better than I’ve liked anywhere I’ve lived. I like teaching as an adjunct professor. What I don’t like is Connecticut’s definition of “Indian.” Why? Because I am an Indian. I grew up Indian, look Indian, even speak Indian. So it offends me to come east and to see how “Indian” is defined in this state that I now call home. What offends me? That on the outside (where it counts in America’s racially conscious society), Indians in Connecticut do not appear Indian. In fact, the Indians in Connecticut look more like they come from European or African stock. When I see them, whether they are Pequot, Mohegan, Paugussett, Paucatuck, or Schaghticoke, I want to say, “These are not Indians.” But I’ve kept quiet. I can’t stay quiet any longer. These are not Indians. The federal recognition process has become a new arena for profit making, as any venture capitalist in America can see. What had been an obscure Bureau of Indian Affairs process has become a loophole for speculators and opportunistic individuals forming “tribes.” These speculators are willing to bankroll these questionable “tribes” for mutual gain. Connecticut has been doing it now for a decade. People who had been indigent elsewhere can come here and claim lineage and book a cruise to the Caribbean islands or move into a spanking new retirement home on casino income as a tribal member. There are no remnants left of the indigenous peoples that had proudly lived in Connecticut. What is here is all legally created. The blood is gone. These Are Not Indians