Revenge of the Pequots: How a Small Native American Tribe Created the World's Most Profitable Casino - Hardcover

Eisler, Kim Isaac

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684854708 ISBN 13: 9780684854700

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Synopsis

Presents the ultimate rags-to-riches tale of how Richard "Skip" Hayward, an unemployed ship-worker, granted his Pequot grandmother's sole wish by reviving the dying clan and transforming them into the wealthiest and most inflential Native American tribe in history. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Kim Isaac Eisler, a former staff writer for American Lawyer, is the national editor of Washingtonian magazine, for which he has written extensively about Foxwoods and other Native American gaming facilities. The author of two previous nonfiction books, Shark Tank and A Justice for All, he lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

In this well-paced legal and political saga, journalist Eisler (A Shark Tank; A Justice for All) recounts the deft maneuvering by Connecticut's tiny Pequot tribe in its fight to establish Foxwoods, now the most profitable high-stakes casino in the world. European accounts from the early 16th century describe the Pequots (meaning "destroyers") as "the most numerous, the most warlike, the fiercest and the bravest of all the aboriginal clans of Connecticut." After major defeats at the hands of the English and the Dutch, the tribe was declared dissolved in 1638, although some diehard Pequots retained their identity despite their declining numbers. By the 1970s, they had dwindled to some 55 souls, mostly living below the poverty line, when tribal chairman "Skip" Hayward lined up some legal-aid lawyers and, in effect, declared war with modern legal tools (including contributions of "soft money" to the Democratic National Party, which gained them the direct support of President Clinton). The cast of characters includes Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, Newt Gingrich, John McCain and Donald Trump. Packaged with a flashy, attention-grabbing cover, this climactic revenge narrative--which turned southeastern Connecticut's economy upside down, with employees leaving local businesses in droves for the chance to work at Foxwoods while the Pequots donated cards and dice to the local school systems in the hopes of turning kids into future employees--reveals that, like it or not, the Native American is a "Casino-American," and that it's a brave new world.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Moved by his grandmother's stories about their Pequot Indian forebears, Richard "Skip" Hayward resolved to revive the tribe's identity and fortunes--and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He contacted canny attorney Tom Tureen, who had helped two Maine tribes obtain federal government recognition, which New England tribes, having settled with colonial governments, had never enjoyed, and got the same for the Pequots. Casting about for a profitable enterprise for the tribe, Hayward eventually took another cue from the Maine tribes and, after heavy lobbying and legal maneuvering at federal and State of Connecticut levels, opened a big-payoff bingo parlor. It worked out so well that Hayward decided to try something Maine's laws prevented but Connecticut's didn't--running a casino. With financing from a Malaysian billionaire and shrewd politicking to frustrate competition from Vegas' Steve Wynn and Atlantic City's Donald Trump, the Pequots spearheaded the '90s Indian gaming phenomenon. And they got rich. Journalist Eisler tells the Pequot success story so briskly that there isn't one dull page in the book. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684854708
• ISBN 13: 9780684854700
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272