Contact: Stephanie Hanna (O) 202/208-6416

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 1995

Mohegans To Receive Land In Trust For Connecticut Reservation (September 29, 1995)

Calling it "a very satisfactory result from a long and complex process,"Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Ada Deer todayannounced the signing of an agreement to take a tract of land in trust for theMohegan Tribe of Connecticut for reservation purposes.

When the Mohegans became a federally acknowledged Indian Tribe inMay, 1994, they had no land, so this tract in Montville, Connecticut, willbecome their first reservation land since the Tribe lost its ancestralhomelands in the eighteenth century.

At the same time, by agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, andthrough a gaming compact agreement with the State of Connecticutapproved by the Secretary of the Interior, the land taken in trust today willbe used to construct a casino.

As specified by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, revenues from Indiangaming facilities must be used for the welfare, benefit and economicdevelopment of the Tribe.

"Each case we deal with is unique and must be approached with the utmostcare," Deer said. "This application to take land in trust was unusuallycomplicated and I am very pleased that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is ableto bring it to a successful resolution for the Mohegans today."

U.S. Department of the Interior