Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

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.

Lakeville Journal

Latest News

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

Slow fashion takes the runway at Stone Ridge Orchard

The organic runway at HVSFW puts sustainable style among the apple trees at Stone Ridge Orchard.

Jay Ballesteros

Fast fashion has made it possible to buy the latest trend almost as quickly as it appears on social media. The environmental cost, however, is anything but fleeting. Fashion production accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, consumes enormous quantities of water and energy, and an estimated 85% of textiles end up in landfills each year. Synthetic fabrics also shed microplastics when washed.

So what would happen if we slowed things down?

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling

Susan Schneider and the magic of marbling
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
Susan Schneider, owner of Shandell’s in Ashley Falls, in her studio.
It’s a joyful process. —Susan Schneider

A beautiful September morning found Susan Schneider of Shandell’s working in her Ashley Falls home studio, while linen cocktail napkins she had marbled the day before hung on a line outside her back door. Her helpers, dogs Daisy and Stubbs, are never far from her.

“Marbling,” Schneider explained, “the art of floating paint on a liquid and printing it on a medium, has been around for hundreds of years.”

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

Through the lens of war

Through the lens of war

“Omaha Beach Rescue, D-Day +1, Normandy, June 7, 1944.” one of the best-known photographs of D-Day.

Walter Rosenblum

Longtime Norfolk resident Nina Rosenblum will present her award-winning documentary, “They Fight With Cameras,” on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the Norfolk Library.

The film tells the story of her father, decorated U.S. Army Signal Corps combat cameraman Walter Rosenblum.

Keep ReadingShow less
film
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Brian Gersten finds the story in the overlooked

Brian Gersten finds the story in the overlooked

Filmmaker Brian Gersten

D.H. Callahan

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, award-winning filmmaker Brian Gersten will screen four short documentaries at the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, exploring obscure topics such as a lingering territorial dispute between the United States and Canada, a nationwide toilet paper panic sparked by a late-night joke, the infamous “Balloon Boy” saga and the history of bowling in America.

The Chicago-raised, Millerton-based filmmaker has worked as an editor on feature-length documentaries like the cycling film “Enter the Slipstream” and Netflix’s profile on author Tom Wolfe, “Radical Wolfe.” In 2025, “Why We Dream,” a film he edited about bringing D-Day veterans back to the beaches of Normandy, premiered aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City. When it comes to directing, Gersten’s own interests focus more on the underappreciated and unremembered, as the four short films he directed will demonstrate.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Sharon artist takes top prize at Lime Rock art show

Sharon artist takes top prize at Lime Rock art show
Muriel Stockdale, left, and judge Roger McKee during the awards announcement at the juried art show at Trinity Episcopal Church. Stockdale\u2019s \u201cKevin\u201d was the second place winner.
Patrick L. Sullivan

The annual juried art show at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lime Rock was won by Mi-Kyung Hwang of Sharon for “Wild Hazelnut from Eggleston.”

The winners were announced at the show’s opening reception at the church Friday evening, Sept. 18.

Keep ReadingShow less
art show

From Woodstock to the Warner, Graham Nash is still singing for peace

From Woodstock to the Warner, Graham Nash is still singing for peace

Graham Nash brings a career-spanning retrospective to the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Sept. 30, joined by Todd Caldwell, Adam Minkoff and Zack Djanikian.

Misti Layne

Imagine stepping out onto a stage in front of hundreds of thousands of tired, wet and weary strangers with a lineup of songs they’ve never heard before. If you’re Graham Nash, who will perform with his current band at the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Sept. 30, you don’t have to imagine. You only have to remember.

The legendary Woodstock music festival was only the second concert Nash played with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Nash had already formed Crosby, Stills & Nash, releasing their debut album earlier that year. Theirs was a sound both new and nostalgic when it hit the scene in the late 1960s, and, thanks in part to the success all three members had had with previous bands, they instantly found a wide and willing audience.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.