Tribal
Leaders Hold Press Conference Today - Saturday June 19 at 12 Noon
During Tribe's Annual Strawberry Moon Celebration at Grafton Reservation
GRAFTON,
MA - The Nipmuc Nation, denied Friday its long awaited
recognition by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office
of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) announced today that it will formally
appeal the BIA denial.
Tribal leaders,
convening today for their annual Strawberry Moon Celebration on
their ancestral reservation, sharply attacked the bait and switch
methodology of the BIA ruling, charging that the bureau veered from
its initial finding and judged The Nipmuc Nation not as The Nipmuc
Tribe the basis of the Nipmuc petition for tribal recognition but
as a Hassanamisco Tribe.
Nipmuc Chief
Walter A. Vickers, Tribal Council Chair Frances Richardson Garnett
and the tribe's attorney Christopher Sullivan met with reporters
at noon today to outline their appeal and take specific exception
to the summary findings. The complete decision has not yet been
received by The Nipmuc Nation, but a review of the summary findings
was sufficient to understand how the BIA distorted the petition.
What is already
apparent is that the BIA/OFA redefined who we are and decided that
we were the Hassanamisco Tribe instead of The Nipmuc Nation, said
Chief Vickers. And then having made that erroneous judgment, they
went on to determine that there were an inadequate number of Hassanamiscos
to prove our petition, and so they rejected us.
The decision
is deeply flawed both factually and legally, said Sullivan.
The final determination
by the BIA has no resemblance to the Bureau's preliminary determination
itself an illegal reversal of the Bureau's initial positive preliminary
determination, said Garnett.
For 25 years,
we have played by BIA rules, one of the few tribes not to litigate
and they changed their own rules in the middle of the game, said
Vickers.
The Nipmuc Nation
Tribal Reservation is located at 80 Brigham Hill Road in Grafton.
Members of The Nipmuc Nation will gather to meet with reporters
before commencing their annual Strawberry Moon Festival from 1 p.m.
to 4 p.m. today.
