How the Pequots got recognized

In response to Kaweah Guilty of Fraud, Russell Bates wrote:[T]he Pequots BOUGHT their recognition as a tribe from Congress.My response to Russ:

The only Indian gaming that existed in 1983 was bingo. That was five years before the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act passed. So I doubt the Pequots had much money to lobby Congress with, and casino developers had no reason to help them.

So they got recognition from Congress, but they didn't buy it. In fact, Congress recognized them to settle their land claims, not to pay them off for anything. Your mistake if you think otherwise.

Here, educate yourself about the Pequots' recognition:

Mashantucket Pequot TribeBy the time of the 1910 US Census, there were only 13 tribal members remaining on the reservation. In 1973, Elizabeth George (?-1973) died on the remaining 214-acre (0.87 km²) tract of forest that was the reservation. Her death left no one remaining on the land, and the federal government started the process to reclaim the land. Richard Arthur Hayward became the tribal chairman in 1975, and worked to gain federal recognition for the tribe. On October 18, 1983 (when President Reagan signed the Connecticut Indian Land Claims Settlement Act), the Mashantucket Pequot became the eighth American Indian tribe to gain federal recognition through congressional approval.Tribal Nation HistoryIn the early 1970s, tribal members began moving back to the Mashantucket reservation, hoping to restore their land base and community, develop economic self-sufficiency, and revitalize tribal culture. By the mid-1970s, tribal members had embarked on a series of economic ventures, in addition to instituting legal action to recover illegally seized land.

With the assistance of the Native American Rights Fund and the Indian Rights Association, the Tribe filed suit in 1976 against neighboring landowners to recover land that had been sold by the State of Connecticut in 1856. Seven years later the Pequots reached a settlement with the landowners, who agreed that the 1856 sale was illegal, and who joined the Tribe in seeking the state government's support. The state responded, and the Connecticut Legislature unanimously passed legislation to petition the federal government to grant tribal recognition to the Mashantucket Pequots and settle the claim. With help from the Connecticut delegation, the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Land Claims Settlement Act was enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Reagan on Oct. 18, 1983.Federal Acknowledgment of the Mashantucket Pequot TribeRepresentative Nancy Johnson directly addressed the question of federal recognition in a House debate on the first version of the act:

"Recognition of an Indian tribe by act of Congress is admittedly an unusual procedure but it is essential in the settlement of a claim by Congress. Without this federal recognition, the United States, the State of Connecticut, and innocent landowners would remain vulnerable to future suits raised by groups purporting to be the Pequot Tribe. Whatever the merits of the federal recognition project administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it should not stand as a bar to the designation by Congress of one of the principal parties to the settlement. Federal recognition is essential to a final settlement of the claims." (Congressional Record-House, March 22, 1983, p. 6445).Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Facts About Tribal Sovereignty.

Below:  A reveler at a Foxwoods party? No, a traditional Pequot Indian.