Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World's Largest Casino

by Jeff Benedict

Book Overview

The book seems at times like a legal thriller, a psychological drama, a morality tale, and a scandal sheet. -- Richard Tambling, Hartford Journal Inquirer

Jeff Benedict, the author of No Bone Unturned, tracks the transformation of the Mashantucket Pequots from a population of one on 214 miserable acres in the early 1970s to today's largest landowner in Connecticut. Led by a former laborer, Tribal Chairman...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060931965
• ISBN13: 9780060931964
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Exploitation at it's best........

I started reading this book in Borders and was compelled to buy it, because I had to find the justice or the "all is well" at the end of this story...unfortunately the story has not ended as Benedict states. I am a full blooded Native American and believe in the rights of all natives in this country, however I also believe that latching onto "native-americanism" as a means to gain what little goodness comes our way is the lowest form of greed. It makes my skin crawl. I don't think Benedict could give a more compelling detail of the events that took place. I believe every Native American law class should read this book, in hopes that we one day bring the truth to light and force the wrong doers to admit their pretenses or lack of better judgment. The rise of this said tribe reminds me of another crazy true story, the story of the only King of San Francisco. He existed because everybody played along to this man's statement that he was a prince of England and declared himself the King of San Francisco. He got many priveleges because people LET HIM!! I recommend this book to those who don't have anything important to do the next day. I was so angry midway through the book I couldn't go to sleep til' 1am and had to get up at 4am. Now that's a book for you!!

This book will outrage you one way or the other!

After reading this novel I couldn't help but feel I had just plowed through a book centering on the mafia. but I wasn't! It was a biography of an Indian tribe. The amount of lying, betrayal, greed, and corruption that goes on in this story rivals anything that I have ever read. And it is all true. many investigations have shown that benedict's research is all exact and while Foxwoods and the Pequots obviously deny it all they can't hide. Unfortunately the Federal government along with the state is completely involved with the billion dollar a year casino and refuses to do anything about the mistakes that were made. Records show that those claiming to be Pequots aren't Indians at all. If they are Indians they are not descendants from another tribe that did not reside in CT. Furthermore those that came to claim tribal membership to the government only did so a few months prior to appearing before the Federal government. As was shown in similar cases they would not have been recognized. Basically what this book shows is how lawyers took advantage of early laws to establish a way to generate tons of money. Through strong arm tactics, threats, and lies Tureen and his crew were able to get the Pequots recognized without the US government even attempting to check into the claim and also awarded them much more land than they originally were intending. As the story pans out a huge web of corruption ensues. benedict represents the story in such a compelling fashion you hardly believe it isn't fiction. From Lawyers defending the small town of Ledyard jumping ship to side with the Pequots for profit and gains to the head chairman of Indian Affairs covering up laws to allow the Foxwoods casino to expand all paints a picture of how money rules our government. Simpathetic to the tribe the Lawyers for the Pequots pushed and pushed and put Hayward and his rag tag band of potential Indians in a position to buy their way into anything. When they wanted something they just paid the state of CT for it like their ability to get slot machines costing them 100 million every year in payments to the state. Or through campaigne contributions to President Clinton the corruption goes all the way to the top. This is a must read for anyone to see how money is all that matters in this great land of ours. And that now even after all of this evidence has come to light the federal government refuses to take any action that would cost them that money.

chilling ...

I'd never really thought of Foxwoods until the Maine Indian tribes proposed a similar casino project near my town in southern Maine. This book is chilling and it is heartbreaking to see what has been perpetrated on the citizens of SE Connecticut through complacency and indifference. It is also frightening to learn what can be accomplished when intelligence is married to greed and selfishness. Where were the elected officials to protect the interests of their constituents?!!!! The reviewer who says that this book is full of innuendo and misstatements obviously has ulterior motives and is not disclosing them (or am I just completely jaded after this book?). Anyway, back to the book. I found it impossible to put down, it is a real page turner. Enjoy it, and hope the scourge of casino gambling with all it's false promises never rears it's ugly head in your area.

Captivating

Finally, someone has explained to the rest of us how this tribe and casino could have transformed Connecticut right before our eyes. In a quick read, Benedict has given us the details of a situation that has left many people baffled for the past several years. Well written and easy to understand, this book takes you on the journey that created not only a whole tribe, but an incredibly profitable casino in the heart of a quiet state. With amazingly indepth research, Benedict also uncovers the political forces that made this all possible. I strongly recommend "Without Reservation" to anyone.

A provoking look at the world's biggest casino

"Without Reservation: The Making of America's Most Powerful Indian Tribe and Foxwoods, the World's Largest Casino" by Jeff Benedict is an absorbing portrait of an extraordinary phenomenon - the emergence from obscurity within the past three decades of the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe and their rapid climb to unparalleled wealth through their Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. I am sure that many people view these events as a particularly gratifying example of a "rags to riches" story, given the justifiable sympathy now widely felt towards Native Americans after centuries of betrayal and injustice. However, as someone who has spent most of his adult life as a resident of southeastern Connecticut and who is personally acquainted with some of the people discussed in Benedict's book, I have been long aware that the story of the Pequots and their casino is more complex and perhaps less inspirational than might appear at first glance."Without Reservation" raises serious questions about whether the Mashantucket Pequots are who they claim to be, a legitimate tribe of Native Americans. Simply put, are they instead merely opportunists claiming an Indian identity to fraudulently cash in on laws and programs intended to help genuine Native Americans? Some historic tribes in the East after centuries of intermarriage with persons of European and/or African descent and through acculturation with the white society have ceased to exist. According to Benedict's research, Richard "Skip" Hayward, the leader who formulated and led the supposed resurrection of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in the 1970's, has no traceable Pequot ancestry at all. Benedict contends that Hayward's entire Indian descent comes solely through his great-great-grandfather, a man who identified himself not as a Pequot, but as a Narragansett (ironically, the Narragansetts were one of the tribes who allied themselves with the English during the 17th Century war which destroyed the power of the original Pequot tribe). Records indicate that Hayward had consistently identified himself as being "white" until the mid-1970's when it suddenly became advantageous to claim he was a Native American to gain possession of the small "Western Pequot" reservation maintained by the State of Connecticut and to pursue a legal claim against neighboring properties. Benedict further asserts that the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, when granted Federal recognition by a special Act of Congress in 19XX, would have been wholly unable to meet the Bureau of Indian Affairs requirements for such Federal recognition. In his view, many people, sincere in their desire to help Native Americans obtain financial and cultural security, were deceived into supporting a fraudulent cause and unintentionally allowed a small group of imposters to gain extraordinary power by operating a gambling casino shielded from taxation and state regulation. The enormous quantity of dollars flowing