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For Immediate Release                                                         Contact:           Ernie Corrigan

November 29, 2004                                                                                    617-875-1229

  Letter Alleging Nipmuc Nation Ties to BIA is a Fraud

Nipmuc Nation Calls for Internal Investigation of Letter

 SUTTON, MA, November 29, 2004 – A letter that surfaced recently in the press attempting to show an inside connection between The Nipmuc Nation’s 25-year quest for federal recognition (petition 69a) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is obviously fraudulent and should never have been made to appear legitimate, the Nipmuc said today.  

The four-page unsigned letter - - made to appear as if written on Department of Interior letterhead and addressed to Dr. Michael Lawson, the lead researcher for the Nipmuc Nation’s federal recognition - - was callously distributed to the media last week with no apparent effort by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal or Connecticut Alliance President Jeff Benedict to authenticate the letter.  

Blumenthal and Benedict also issued a joint letter to the Connecticut Congressional delegation detailing the contents of the letter and then called for a suspension of the ongoing appeal by both the Nipmuc Nation and the Dudley-Webster band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck (petition 69b).

“Even a cursory inspection of this letter would have led the Attorney General to conclude that it was clearly fraudulent, but they put it out anyway to promote their personal agenda against tribes gaining legitimate recognition,” said Nipmuc Nation Chief Walter Vickers. “This tactic raises serious ethical questions about the Attorney General’s persistent tribal bashing and his lack of respect for the truth about our efforts and those of others to gain recognition.  He seems to support the BIA when they deny recognition and then seeks to undermine them if they grant recognition. You can’t have that both ways.”   

Nipmuc Chairperson Fran Richardson Garnett said that had the Attorney General made a minimal effort to determine the veracity of the letter, he would have found that: 

• Dr. Lawson (addressed as “Dear Mike” by the unknown author) had never seen the letter until it was released by the Attorney General;

·     Dr. Lawson would never have been sent a letter from the Department of the Interior to an address in Sutton as they know his place of business is in Washington, D.C.

·     The letter is unsigned – a fact that Blumenthal and Benedict both acknowledge in their press release; Blumenthal also admitted he received the letter itself anonymously.

·      Informal references in the letter to “Mike” and “buddy” and much other informal prose and references are inappropriate in an official letter from the Secretary of the Interior and would never have been used;

•  The letter follows no Government Printing Office guidelines and has obviously been wrongly positioned on part of a letterhead and then copied.

•  Both date stamps (DOI and Nipmuc Nation) are not those used by either.

·     The Department of the Interior said in media accounts last week that all indications are that the letter is fraudulent.

• The notion that the DOI/BIA would suggest – in writing – how one applicant might  sabotage another applicant is absurd on its face.

“We are supportive of any tribe that seeks recognition through the arduous federal process and that includes the Dudley-Webster band’s brothers and sisters. We don’t need them to fail in order for us to succeed,” said Garnett. “The Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs should investigate the source of this letter and prosecute the individuals responsible,” she said.