Recently the Connecticut legislature approved a law that allows the state’s two gaming tribes, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe to build a third, satellite casino. It will be located in East Windsor, a few miles from the state’s border with Massachusetts.
The Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation claims that Special Act 15-7 unfairly discriminates against it and says it may sue. The tribal chairman, Katherine Sebastian Dring told the New London Day: “We should not be excluded from any opportunities going forward. Whether we file suit next month or years from now, we have to do this for future generations.”
The Eastern Pequots, while recognized by Connecticut, are not federally recognized, and so not allowed to offer gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA.) However, the other tribes have obtained the right to operate a commercial casino outside of IGRA, so, says Dring, her tribe should have been allowed to participate.
A second tribe, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, have made similar claims.
