---

RECENT STORIES

11/08/01
US withdraws recognition of 3d tribe

11/05/01
Chinooks pin future on US recognition, casino

10/30/01
Casino case raises issues of money, politics

10/6/01
In US ruling on Nipmucs, members' status is faulted

9/28/01
Nipmuc nation loses US status

8/13/01
Trust benefits ex-BIA official

8/10/01
Study touts impact of proposed Mass. casino

7/26/01
McCain grills officials on Mohegan deal

7/10/01
Nipmucs, company set plan on casino

7/8/01
Mohegan tribe says contracts study finds no violations

6/8/01
Tribe is in debt $2m to backers

6/4/01
Tribe said to want land for casino

5/21/01
Regulating tribal casinos

5/14/01
Law skirted in Mohegan deal, former overseer says

4/18/01
Casino foes to remove disputed policy from court fight

4/14/01
Official took job after aid for casino

3/28/01
Probe of tribe designation sought

3/27/01
Decisions on status of tribe draw fire

3/25/01
Indians given a parting boost

3/20/01
Investor's linked to tribe's leaders

3/12/01
Indian casinos spend to limit US oversight

1/31/01
Mohegan Sun boyout deal remains mystery

1/17/01
Questions on Mohegan deal raised

12/20/00
Indian gaming act revision sought

12/16/00
Congressmen seeking probe on Indian casinos

TRIBAL GAMBLE: THE SERIES

Day One, 12/10/00
Casino boom benefits non-Indians

The $800 million deal for outsiders at Mohegan Sun

Day Two, 12/11/00
Few tribes share in casino windfall

Gaming success helps tribe gain community acceptance

California tribes hit the jackpot with gaming vote

Day Three, 12/12/00
It's a war of genealogies

Lineage questions linger as gaming wealth grows

Tribes scramble to get into the game

Day Four, 12/13/00
Tribes make easy criminal targets

Trump plays both sides in casino bids

Weekly
Health | Science (Tue.)
Food (Wed.)
Calendar (Thu.)
Life at Home (Thu.)

Sunday
Automotive
Focus
Learning
Real Estate
Travel

Local news
City Weekly
Globe South
Globe West
North Weekly
NorthWest Weekly
New Hampshire

Features
Globe archives
Book Reviews
Book Swap
Columns
Comics
Crossword
Horoscopes
Death Notices
Lottery
Movie Reviews
Music Reviews
NetWatch weblog
Obituaries
Special Reports
Today's stories A-Z
TV & Radio
Weather

Classifieds
Autos
BostonWorks
Real Estate
Place an Ad

Buy a Globe photo

Help
E-mail addresses
Send us feedback

Alternative views
Low-graphics version
Acrobat version (.pdf)

Decisions on status of tribes draw fire

Bush Administration reviews parting
actions by Clinton appointee

By Sean Murphy, Globe Staff, 03/27/01

Several decisions favorable to the Indian gaming industry made by a Clinton appointee on his last day in office are being scrutinized by the Bush administration for possible reversal, a spokesman said yesterday.

"The Bush administration is taking a hard and thorough look at these decisions," said Stephanie Hanna, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "It may be that, ultimately, this administration comes to different conclusions than the previous administration on some of these cases."

Under review are decisions recognizing two groups as Indian tribes, and thus giving them the right to operate casinos, a privilege often worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Michael J. Anderson, acting head of the bureau, gave final recognition to the Duwamish tribe of Washington state and preliminary recognition to the Nipmuc tribe of Massachusetts on Jan. 19, his last day in office.

In doing so, Anderson rejected recommendations against recognition of those groups made by the bureau's professional staff of historians.

Recognition, which turns on whether groups have maintained a continuous historical identity as tribes, has become a hotly contested political issue in recent years as investors behind such groups have poured tens of millions of dollars into it as the first crucial step to opening casinos, and wary local people have resisted casinos in their towns.

The Globe reported on Sunday that Anderson made a third decision, also under review, on his last day that aided the Seminole tribe of Florida in its legal dispute with the state over use of slot machines in tribal casinos.

The Seminoles, like the Indian gaming industry overall, have been generous contributors to the Democratic Party.

Anderson now works for the firm Monteau, Peebles and Crowell, which represents Indian gaming tribes.

The Globe has also reported that Kevin Gover, who, three weeks before the end of Clinton's term, resigned as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, rejected the recommendation of the professional staff in giving final recognition to the Chinook tribe of Washington state.

Gover, a former Clinton campaign fund-raiser and strategist, stepped directly from his government position to a lucrative job as a lobbyist-lawyer representing Indian gaming tribes with the Washington firm Steptoe & Johnson. One of the tribes he recently solicited for business was the Chinook.

US Representative Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, called on the Bush administation to "restore some sanity" to the government role in the Indian gaming industry.

"Having a casino is like having a license to print money," he said. "My fear is that money will come to the Republicans. The money is so significant that it can corrupt very quickly."

"This is all about money," said Scott Harshbarger, Common Cause president and former Massachusetts attorney general. "By the end of the Clinton term, there was no constraint, no shame."