The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the State of Connecticut for land that it says was taken from the tribe’s northwestern Connecticut reservation, beginning more than two centuries ago.
In a lawsuit filed in Hartford on Thursday, the Kent tribe alleges the state took the land it was managing for the Schaghticokes—eventually amounting to 2,000 acres—without compensating the tribe. The lawsuit contends the tribe is owed at least $613 million, but the tribe says it expects that number to rise because it has not been able to determine the value of all the tracts.
“This is not a case where we are seeking the return of any private citizens’ land,” said Austin Tighe, a lawyer for the tribe. “We’re simply asking the state to do what it promised to do and what it is constitutionally required to do: Pay the tribe for the land it took.”
The tribe is represented by NPR partner Michael Angelovich and Of Counsel attorney Austin Tighe.
The Hartford Courant article can be viewed below:
10/14/16