Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Mashantucket Pequots
The Mashantucket Pequots are a small Native American tribe in Connecticut which operates the successful Foxwoods Resort Casino.
The Mashantucket Pequots are only one remnant of the Pequots, most of whom were killed in the Pequot War in 1637. This group is the western Pequot and has a reservation at Ledyard, Connecticut. In 1983 this group gained federal recognition as an Indian tribe. As of 1990 their population was 320.
Historically, their reservation was created by Connecticut in 1666. Over time it had been reduced to less than an acre (4,000 m²), and population went as low as 20 or 30 natives. After a successful lawsuit over misappropriated reservation lands they began to expand the reservation by purchases.
Their successful and enormous casino, which is a few hours by bus from New York City, was opened in 1992 and since then they have used the revenue to continue expanding their reservation to about 1,800 acres (7 km²). They have also discovered a number of 'missing relatives' as their success continues. Near the casino, the Pequots have a museum charting their history, through good times and bad. The tribal membership has a high crime rate.
See Also
External Links
Further reading
- Brett Duval Fromson, Hitting the Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History, Atlantic Monthly Press, September, 2003, hardcover, 320 pages, ISBN 0871139049; hardcover, Gale Group, February, 2004, hardcover, 366 pages, ISBN 0786262117
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