Photo: Mountains of Schagticoke Reservation next to the Housatonic River in Kent, Connecticut, by John Phelan,Wikimedia.
A 2026 ruling may bring the Schagticoke Indian Tribe of Connecticut another step closer to federal recognition.
On January 22, 2026, the Interior Department's Office of Federal Acknowledgement (OFA) issued a finding saying that 89% of individuals listed in a petition from the Schagticoke Indian Tribe proved descent from people listed as Indians in Litchfield County and Kent town records in the 1870s.
One of the key requirements is that Indians listed on the petition are not enrolled in other, federally-recognized tribes. That is called Criterion 83.11, or “unique membership.”
The Schagticoke Indian Tribe approved a new constitution in September 2022 and submitted it to the OFA in November 2022, which requires tribal members not be members of other federally-recognized Indian tribes.
OFA itself declared:
“OFA also found no evidence of dual enrollment in its verification research. The lack of dual enrollment among SIT’s membership is consistent with the governing document’s restriction limiting membership to the descendants of historical Schaghticoke Indians in the area near Kent. Although there are two federally recognized Indian tribes in Connecticut, neither is located close to the Schaghticoke state reservation or Kent, Connecticut. Similarly, there are no federally recognized tribes located nearby but across state lines in New York or Massachusetts.” (p. 20)
The Schagticoke First Nation (a different group) exists nearby in New York State and is not mentioned by name in the federal ruling.
Phase I Positive Proposed Finding, was signed by Nikki Bass, Director of the Office of Federal Acknowledgement of the Interior Dept.
Bass, Nicki, Director of the Office of Federal Acknowledgement, “Phase I Positive Proposed Finding Schaghticoke Indian Tribe Prepared in Response to the Petition Submitted to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs for Federal Acknowledgment as an Indian Tribe,” U.S. Department of the Interior, BIA.gov, January 22, 2026.
