BOSTON - Citing the possible election of U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry as president, leaders of the Nipmuc Nation yesterday said they are optimistic they will win an appeal of an agency's decision denying them federal recognition and the right to seek a casino.

Only American Indians with federal recognition as a tribe have the authority to negotiate with their states' governors to build a casino. Federal recognition would also give the tribe several other benefits, such as grants for education programs and for housing, health and other improvements.


Nipmuc leaders said they recently discovered old genealogical documents that provide new evidence of their historical roots as a tribe.


The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs June 18 turned down separate requests for federal recognition by two bands of Nipmucs - the Nipmuc Nation in Sutton and the Chaubunagungamaugs of Webster. During a press conference on the grand staircase of the Statehouse, Nipmuc Nation leaders said the denial by the bureau was insulting and demoralizing.


"It's almost like the British have returned and dismantled us again," said Kenneth E. Hamilton, a member of the Nipmuc Nation Tribal Council who lives in South Woodstock, Conn. "They didn't just deny us. They beat us up. They humiliated us."


The Nipmuc Nation, which teamed up with a casino developer, announced June 19 that it intended to appeal the bureau's ruling to the federal Department of the Interior's Board of Indian Appeals. The band's lawyer said the board has never overturned a bureau decision on tribal recognition. The Nipmuc Nation has discussed the possibility of building a casino in Sturbridge.


The Webster-based Nipmuc band, which has no casino plans, has not decided whether to appeal, its leader said yesterday.


Tribal members said the election of Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, as president could boost their chances of winning an appeal. Kerry is expected to be chosen by the Democrats to run against President George W. Bush in the Nov. 2 election.


Hamilton's father, Nipmuc National tribal member Kenneth E. Hamilton II of Boston, said a Kerry victory Nov. 2 would "obviously go a long way toward helping our cause."


Kerry supported the Nipmuc Nation's petition for federal recognition. Kerry has also backed a casino for the Wampanoag Tribe of Martha's Vineyard.


The administration of former President Bill Clinton in January 2001 approved the Nipmuc Nation's bid for federal recognition. That decision trumped recommendations by bureau genealogists that the tribe was not continuously together as a distinct community and should not win federal recognition.


The Bush administration in September 2001 stripped the Nipmuc Nation of its federal recognition.


The Nipmuc Nation and the Chaubunagungamaug band have sought federal recognition for more than 20 years, long before tribes received the right to attempt to build casinos.


Now Lakes Entertainment, a casino development and management company based in Minnesota, has an agreement with the Nipmuc Nation to build a casino for the tribe. Lakes helped pay for the tribe's research into its history and family descent.


Nipmuc Nation members acknowledged that even if they won federal recognition, it could take a decade or longer to win the state's approval for a casino. Under federal Indian gaming laws, tribes can only operate casino games that are legal in a state. Legislators on Beacon Hill have voted overwhelmingly against casinos.


Aurene M. Martin, deputy assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, said last month that both bands were rejected for federal recognition partly because they failed to show they were continuously recognized from outside the tribe as American Indian tribes from 1900 to the present.


Christopher P. Sullivan, a Boston-based lawyer for the Nipmuc Nation, said that after the bureau's decision, tribal members found reams of "extremely important" documents that date back to the 1800s and could help establish the Nipmuc Nation as a tribe. The documents were found in a private residence on the tribe's land in Grafton, he said.


Sullivan said the Nipmuc Nation would appeal by the middle of September, within the 90-day window for challenging bureau decisions. If that fails, the tribe will file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, he said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report

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