Further rifts and rumblings from Schaghticoke Indian Tribe

KENT — The Schaghticoke Indian Tribe (SIT) wants to meet with the selectmen to discuss tribe status and development plans on SIT land, but no meeting  has been scheduled yet.

The tribe members are asking for the use of their reservation to help tribe members through hard economic times; they promised in a letter not to build a casino.

Meanwhile, there seems to now be a rift within the tribe, with Alan Russell removed from his position as chief.

At the Tuesday, Jan. 6, regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen at Town Hall, the selectmen reviewed a letter from attorney Edward Gasser of Avon, who represents the SIT, asking for a meeting.

“We gave the letter over to Town Attorney Jeffrey Sienkiewicz,� First Selectman Ruth Epstein said. “We have not heard back from him yet. If there was to be any meeting, he has to be in attendance. I can’t say anything else about it.�

SIT, led by Executive Coordinator Michael Rost, is currently developing and constructing The Great American Freedom Pyramid.

Rost has plans for the pyramid that include turning it into a holistic healing spa retreat and recreational facility, with a 2,000- to 5,000-room hotel.

Rost said that, as of Friday, Jan. 9, any meeting with the selectmen is up in the air.

“We’re going to have a meeting with our attorney to discuss what’s going on,� Rost said. “At this point I have no clue of what is going to happen.�

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, the SIT sent a letter to the selectmen and The Lakeville Journal signed by both Chairman Gail Harrison-Donovan and Vice Chairman Mary MacDonald that said the SIT wishes to develop portions of its reservation in Kent to benefit tribal members in a manner consistent with the tribe’s heritage.

“Presently, a significant number of our members live at or below poverty levels and need the resources that our reservation has in order to exist,� Brooke and MacDonald wrote in the press release. “We cannot emphasize strongly enough that we have no plans or intention to engage in any casino building or casino operation on any land in the state. Furthermore, the tribe makes an unequivocal promise that it will not do so in the future even if it becomes federally recognized.�

A rival faction of the Schaghticokes, calling itself the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, had sought federal recognition and was rumored to be making plans for a casino in Connecticut.

Donovan and MacDonald wrote that the tribe plans to use the land for improved housing, a cultural center and a hospice facility that “will not only benefit tribal members but also members of the general public.�

The letter also states that former chief Alan Russell has been removed from any position in the tribe and “cannot speak for the tribe in any fashion.�

In response, Russell has started a petition drive against SIT’s plans for the reservation land.

Rost said the petition accused the tribe of using the land as a burial site.

“That’s absurd,� Rost said. “The land does not constitute a burial site.�

The Lakeville Journal attempted to contact Russell several times for this story.