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Case 2:92-cv-00738-JBA

Document 281

Filed 06/22/2004

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

GOLDEN HILL, ET AL Plaintiff v. WEICKER, ET AL Defendant

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:92CV00738(JBA)

JUNE 21, 2004

NOTIFICATION OF FINAL DETERMINATION BY THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS DENYING FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO THE PLAINTIFF On June 14, 2004, the United States Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") issued its Final Determination declining to acknowledge the plaintiff, the Golden Hill Paugussett group ("GHP"), as an Indian tribe. This determination was based on the BIA's conclusion that the plaintiff failed to satisfy four of the seven mandatory criteria for tribal acknowledgment required by law 25 C.F.R. Part 83. In particular, the BIA found that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate that: (1) it had been identified "as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900" (§ 83.7(a)); (2) a "predominant portion of the plaintiff consists of a distinct community and has existed as a community from historical times until the present" (§ 83.7 (b)); (3) it "has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an autonomous entity from historical times until the present" (§ 83.7(c)); and (4) the plaintiff's members descend from a historical tribe or from historical tribes that combined and functioned as a single autonomous entity (§ 83.7(e)). Under the acknowledgment regulations, the final determination will become final and effective ninety (90) days from publication in the Federal Register unless a request for reconsideration is filed. 25 C. F. R. § 83.11. A copy of the BIA's Notice of Final

Case 2:92-cv-00738-JBA

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Determination and Summary is enclosed. A copy of the complete, approximately 150 page decision, is available and can be provided to the Court upon request.

THE DEFENDANT THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT RICHARD BLUMENTHAL ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:

_________________________________ Richard Blumenthal Attorney General Federal Bar No. ct05924 55 Elm Street P.O. Box 120 Hartford, CT 06141-0120 Tel: (860) 808-5020 Fax: (860) 808-5347 [email protected]

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CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing was mailed in accordance with Rule 5(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on this 21st day of June, 2004 to: Bernard Wishnia Roseland Professional Building 204 Eagle Rock Avenue Roseland, NJ 07068 William A. Wechsler Bailey & Wechsler 10 North Main Street, Ste. 321 West Hartford, CT 06107 Alexander H. Schwartz 3695 Post Road, PO Box 701 Southport, CT 06490 David G. Chabot Gerald L. Garlick Linda Clifford Hadley Krasow, Garlick & Hadley One State Street Hartford, CT 06103 Noel E. Hanf Wiggin & Dana One Century Tower 265 Church St., PO Box 1832 New Haven, CT 06508-1832 Thomas Gugliotti Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C. One State St., PO Box 231277 Hartford, CT 06123-1277 Michael D. O'Connell O'Connell, Flaherty & Attmore 280 Trumbull Street Hartford, CT 06103-3598 Richard L. Albrecht Cohen & Wolf, P.C. 1115 Broad St., PO Box 1821 Bridgeport, CT 06604 Henry C. Winiarski, Jr. 941 Wethersfield Avenue Hartford, CT 06114-3137 John J. Kelly, Jr. Cantor, Floman, Gross, Kelly, Amendola & Sacramone 378 Boston Post Road PO Box 966 Orange, CT 06477 Richard S. Lipman Union Camp Corp. Legal Dept. 1600 Valley Road Wayne, NJ 07470 Austin K. Wolf Cohen & Wolf, P.C. 1115 Broad St., PO Box 1821 Bridgeport, CT 06604

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Geoffrey A. Hecht Caplan Hecht Scanlon & Mendel 20 Trumbull St., PO Box 9505 New Haven, CT 06534 Janet L. Janczewski The Southern Connecticut Gas Co. 885 Main Street Bridgeport, CT 06604 Robert L. Berchem Richard J. Buturla Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C. 75 Broad Street Milford, CT 06460 Andrew M. Eschen U.S. Department of Justice Ben Franklin Station, PO Box 663 Washington, DC 20044-6208 Judith A. Mauzaka Gerald T. Weiner Weinstein, Weiner, Ignal, Vogel, & Shapiro 350 Fairfield Ave., PO Box 9177 Bridgeport, CT 06601 Stuart A. Margolis 1332 Temple Street New Haven, CT 06510 Howard R. Wolfe Goldman Gruder & Woods 125 Mason Street Greenwich, CT 06830

John Pirina, Jr. Law Offices of Arnaldo J. Sierra 215 Washington Street Hartford, CT 06106 John B. Hughes U.S. Attorney's Office of the Attorney General 157 Church Street, 23rd Floor, PO Box 1824 New Haven, CT 06510 James A. Trowbridge Quinnipiac College Law School Clinic 275 Mount Carmel Ave. Hamden, CT 06518-1946 Kimball Haines Hunt Hunt, Leibert, Chester & Jacobson, P.C. 50 Weston Street Hartford, CT 06120-4626 Mark T. Anastasi City of Bridgeport Office of the City Attorney 999 Broad Street, 2nd Floor Bridgeport, CT 06604-4328 Thomas E. Behuniak 44 Greenwood Circle Seymore, CT 06483 Michael Stanton Hillis Dombroski, Knapsack & Hillis 129 Whitney Avenue New haven, CT 06510

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Kenneth M. Rozich Law Firm of Edward D. Jacobs PO Box 1952 New Haven, CT 06509 Anthony M. Feeherry Goodwin, Procter & Hoar Exchange Place, 2nd Floor Boston, MA 02109-2881

Paul Ruszczyk Highland Professional Center 408 Highland Avenue Cheshire, CT 06410

______________________________ Daniel Schaefer Attorney General

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