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Boston.com / Latest News / Northeast /

Some records of Indian history missing or altered
By Associated Press, 2/16/2000 13:38
- No author specified -

NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) In bits and pieces, some
documents tracing the history of Connecticut Indian tribes are
disappearing from libraries and town halls. Others are being
altered.

Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Chief and Treasurer James Cunha
said his tribe has routinely run into the problem while conducting
research to document their claim for federal recognition.

''I've opened up books and seen where someone has cut out a
whole chapter with a razor blade, or whole indexes of cards missing
from a card catalog,'' Cunha said Tuesday. ''Places where the
word `colored' has been crossed out and replaced with `Indian.'
There are a lot of people out there who just don't care.''

Preston First Selectman Robert Congdon believes people trying
to prove they are of Indian decent or tribes seeking recognition
from the federal government are responsible for the vandalism.

''If someone's making a case that John Doe deserves to be
recognized as a Native American, and there's a record that shows
John Doe owned land, paid taxes and contradicts the case he's
trying to make, there's one big reason to make it disappear,''
Congdon said.

With the success of the casinos run by the Mashantucket Pequots
and the Mohegans, many people are looking for their share of
possible riches and some are willing to use unscrupulous and
illegal methods to get it, Congdon said.

People who can prove they are members of the Mashantucket
Pequot tribe receive quarterly payments from the tribe.

Donald Baur, a Washington, D.C., attorney for the towns of Ledyard,
North Stonington and Preston, said experts working on his behalf
have found pages missing from documents in the National Archives
in Washington.

Joan Cohn, president and director of the Indian and Colonial
Research Center in Mystic, said that more people have been coming
to check their genealogy since the early 1990s, mainly because of
the success of the Mohegan and Mashantucket tribes.

''There are not a lot of critical documents related to Indians,'' Cohn
said. ''It wasn't popular years ago to be an Indian, but now people
want to get recognized and they'll do almost anything to get it.''

Many libraries are now placing their Indian collections in more
secure areas. Security measures were taken at the Otis Library in
downtown Norwich after concerns arose four years ago.

Otis head reference librarian Diane Norman said the changes have
made a difference, but at least 10 books in the library's general
circulation turned up missing during a recent count.

''We're not trying to deny access to our records, but we have to
preserve them too,'' Norman said.

---
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/047/region/Some_records_of_Indian_history:.shtml
© Copyright 2000 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc.

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