Connecticut § 47-59a Connecticut Indians; citizenship, civil rights, land rights.

Connecticut Statutes

§ 47-59a — Connecticut Indians; citizenship, civil rights, land rights.

Connecticut § 47-59a

Title 47Land and Land Titles

Ch. 824Indians

This text of Connecticut § 47-59a (Connecticut Indians; citizenship, civil rights, land rights.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-59a (2026).

Text

(a)It is hereby declared the policy of the state of Connecticut to recognize that all resident Indians of qualified Connecticut tribes are considered to be full citizens of the state and they are hereby granted all the rights and privileges afforded by law, that all of Connecticut's citizens enjoy. It is further recognized that said Indians have certain special rights to tribal lands as may have been set forth by treaty or other agreements.

(b)The state of Connecticut further recognizes that the indigenous tribes, the Schaghticoke, the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot, the Mashantucket Pequot, the Mohegan and the Golden Hill Paugussett are self-governing entities possessing powers and duties over tribal members and reservations. Such powers and duties include the power to:

(1)Determine tribal m

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

(a) It is hereby declared the policy of the state of Connecticut to recognize that all resident Indians of qualified Connecticut tribes are considered to be full citizens of the state and they are hereby granted all the rights and privileges afforded by law, that all of Connecticut's citizens enjoy. It is further recognized that said Indians have certain special rights to tribal lands as may have been set forth by treaty or other agreements. (b) The state of Connecticut further recognizes that the indigenous tribes, the Schaghticoke, the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot, the Mashantucket Pequot, the Mohegan and the Golden Hill Paugussett are self-governing entities possessing powers and duties over tribal members and reservations. Such powers and duties include the power to: (1) Determine tribal membership and residency on reservation land; (2) determine the tribal form of government; (3) regulate trade and commerce on the reservation; (4) make contracts; and (5) determine tribal leadership in accordance with tribal practice and usage.

Legislative History

(P.A. 73-660, S. 1, 11; P.A. 89-368, S. 16.) History: P.A. 89-368 added Subsec. (b) giving recognition of powers and duties of indigenous tribes over tribal members and reservations. Cited. 176 C. 318; 180 C. 474; 217 C. 612; 231 C. 563; 243 C. 115. Although section recognizes the right of tribes to select their own leaders, it does not provide that leadership disputes may be settled through means that violate state criminal statutes. 263 C. 602. Cited. 18 CA 4; 22 CA 229; judgment reversed, see 217 C. 612. “Rights and privileges” include access to state's courts, and tribe's initiation of summary process action in state court constitutes consent to the court's jurisdiction. 138 CA 204. Subsec. (a): “Rights and privileges” must include access to the state's courts; court properly exercised subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate summary process action involving eviction from reservation land where plaintiffs, by initiating action, consented to court's jurisdiction and the court's exercise of jurisdiction did not interfere with the Schaghticoke Indians' right to self-governance or infringe on any tribal laws or adjudicative authority of the Schaghticoke Indians. 138 CA 204.