By the middle of the 19th century, the difficult conditions on the Mashantucket Reservation had made it impossible for more than a handful of families to remain there. But in the 1970s, Pequots began returning to Mashantucket. Many of them were the nieces, nephews, and grandchildren of Anne George and her sister, Elizabeth George, who passed away in 1973 after a lifetime of fighting for her tribe’s survival. In 1976, 120 years after the illegal sale of their land, the Mashantucket Pequots sued for its return and took a crucial step in their dramatic recovery.

"Hold on to the land."
Elizabeth George, (1894 - 1973), a leader of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

"...people had the sense when they came here that there was something happening, that something was alive here, and there was something spiritual happening."
Richard "Skip" Hayward, Tribal Chairman and grandson of Elizabeth George

"The Mashantucket Pequots ... from my first meetings with them, spoke about bringing back the people. Getting back the land. Making them self-sufficient. And dealing with their history and their culture."
Jack Campisi, anthropologist

Mashantucket, in the mid-1970s, was little more that 200 acres of rocks and trees, and there hadn’t been a new home built there in more than 120 years. After years of lobbying, the Pequots received help from Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Fifteen new homes were completed in September 1981.

"People cleared their own lot. We put in our own lawns, and it was a job. It was a job because those same rocks that were there when we were trying to do gardens were there when we were trying to plant lawns."
Phyllis Monroe Wait, tribal member and granddaughter of Anne George

In the 1970s, the Mashantucket Pequots were taking just about every business opportunity that came their way to become economically self-sufficient. They tried raising produce, running a swine operation, and selling maple sugar, but profits proved to be elusive to them.

"...we were growing [lettuce] and we had plenty of it -- ten thousand heads a week! And it was scary to see something, a business of that size and how huge it was. And we tried to sell this lettuce, but we could not get into the food market."
Theresa Hayward Bell, Executive Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and granddaughter of Elizabeth George

"There was no money and it was like you were constantly feeding [the pigs]. Everyone became attached to these original eighteen [pigs]. They never went to market. Eventually they all had names. They became pets."
Charlene Jones, tribal member and great-granddaughter of Elizabeth George

Federal Recognition in 1983 allowed the Pequots to regain lost tribal land and brought with it $300,000 to invest in tribal economic development. The Pequots purchased and ran a local restaurant called Mr. Pizza, which turned out to be a successful tribal meeting place but could not provide all the revenue the Tribe needed. Still searching for economic stability, the tribe opened a bingo hall in 1986.

" Skip [Hayward, Tribal Chairman] always talked about being self sufficient, but back then things just were not working out, something big enough to take care of the whole reservation...it just didn’t work out until we got the bingo hall."
Loretta Libby, tribal member and daughter of Elizabeth George

In the late 1980s, the Pequots saw their most ambitious goal fulfilled as a wave of tribal members returned to Mashantucket.

"I felt that this was part of me. This was part of my children, this was part of my mother. And this was a part of my grandmother. I thought, ‘this is good because I’m back home and I’m working for my own people.’ And I had a sense of belonging."
Denise Porter, tribal member

The year 1992 marked the beginning of a new era for the Mashantucket Pequots, as the success of Foxwoods Resort Casino brought them the economic security they had been seeking. The Tribe also owns a pharmaceutical company, a shipbuilding company, and several inns and hotels. These kinds of efforts will ensure a bright future for the next generation of Pequots.

"[The tribal elders] said, ‘Just pursue your education, and you’ll have a career already set up for you.’ I’m going straight through college to get every kind of degree I can. And I want to be a lawyer."
Tabitha Cooper, age 14, tribal member

These texts and quotes are drawn from more than three hours of documentaries on view at the new Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, which opened on August 11, 1998, in Mashantucket, Conn.