Hitting the Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History

"Hitting The Jackpot" is not just a great read but a real eye-opener about the reality of some Indian tribes. I had no idea that tribes like the Pequots existed -- most tribal members with 1/64th to 1/128th Pequot blood at best and no living culture! This book is a real corrective to the sterotypical perception of tribes today. I just read it and urge everyone --Indian and non-Indian -- who cares about gambling and tribes to pick up a copy.Since I live in Connecticut -- I first heard Fromson on Colin McEnroe's radio show on WTIC -- and subscribe to The Hartford Courant, I read the absurd attack on the book by the head lobbyist from the Indian casino tribes that someone from Oklahoma -- most likely another Indian casino lobbyist -- has posted on this site. Well, here's what the author said in reply in last Saturday's Courant. I thought it explained really well the real agenda behind the casino lobby's attack on this work of investigative journalism. Here's what the author wrote in reply in The Courant last Saturday: I am the author of "Hitting The Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History," which tells the remarkable story of the reinvention of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the creation of Foxwoods casino.My book is the first to take readers inside a casino tribe, show the gritty reality of such groups and reveal how they are created.Based on exclusive interviews with tribal members, confidential documents and interviews with key governmental and tribal advisers and leaders, "Hitting The Jackpot" raises serious questions about the proliferation of casino tribes with massive gambling operations in urban and suburban America."Hitting The Jackpot" has received uniformly favorable reviews from the mainstream press, including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Courant.Why, then, is an attack on my book published as an op-ed in this newspaper by Ernest L. Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association in Washington and a member of the Oneida Indian tribe [Feb. 15, "Resilient Pequots Should Be Applauded, Not Criticized"]?Stevens does not question a single fact in my book, yet he calls it "a vicious and racist attack on American Indian identity in the 21st century." Nothing could be further from the truth.As one Pequot tribal leader wrote me in a letter dated Dec. 5, 2003, "Thanks for your honesty and effort with this book."A second Pequot, the matriarch of another tribal family, telephoned to say how much she appreciated the book and to thank me for "telling the truth."In truth, the Indian gambling lobby attack stems from the attention my book has attracted wherever Indian casinos are popping up.That is unacceptable to lobbyists like Stevens, who are paid to protect these lucrative gambling franchises.Such people try to pre-empt debate by cynically playing the race card.They seek to impugn the motives of anyone independently investigating casino tribes, Indian gambling and the social costs

As a local and semi-frequent guest to Foxwoods I had to read this book. I couldn't put it down. Fromson realy makes you feel the emotion that is evoked from this true life account of the rise of the Mashantuckets from their near extinction. You feel excited for Skip when he wins (with great luck I might add) all of the legal battles, and you feel anger at how the "minority majority" handled their new wealth. I can definately say that I have a new outlook on the Mashantuckets...this book draws you in, makes you want to know more. Well written, and a must read for anyone who lives in CT (especially SE CT) or has heard of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

Hitting the Jackpot is an extraordinary tale, expertly pieced together and wonderfully told by Brett Fromson. How is it that one man, a bit of a boozer and adrift in his own life, could seize on his memories of his difficult grandmother - an irascible old woman, one-eighth Pequot Indian - and her possession of and passion for a nearly forgotten piece of land in Connecticut and, over a period of 20 years, lay legal claim to that small reservation, expand it, attract a motley group of distant relatives and friends to it, and in the process create a modern day Indian tribe and enormously successful gambling enterprise - Foxwoods - all out of thin air? Skip Hayward, working with idealistic but also brilliant lawyers, turned his gossamer-thin Pequot legacy into a uniquely American success story. In effect and thanks to the skill of their lawyers, Hayward and his relatives pulled a fast one. This was an artful manipulation, a slight of hand (made possible in part by 100 years of baked-in guilt over the American Indian experience) visited upon indifferent bureaucrats and contribution-seeking but inattentive politicians. Hayward, singular in his drive, creates a new Pequot tribe as a means to an end - to secure the land and develop a business. The members of this new tribe - many of them raised in the inner city and surprised to learn that they are "Indian," - migrate to the reservation on the promise of free housing and easy money. Little is known about the original Pequot Indians. There is no inherited culture, no Pequot songs or dances passed down through the generations. One of the most telling moments in the book comes when members of the tribe are visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii and are asked to sing a traditional Pequot song. Fromson writes, "Instead, they sang "You are My Sunshine;" it was the only song everyone knew."In the end, the Pequot tribal members are simply lottery winners who draw down huge sums of money but live aimless, dependent lives. It is an improbable story, a quintessentially American tale that is notable both for what Hayward and the lawyers accomplished and for the ultimate emptiness of that considerable achievement. As one tribal member says, "This tribe was brought together by money....Money is what this tribe is about. Let's face it. That is the reality. We are here because of the money. I am here because of the money. My family is here because of the money. That is what this tribe is about." Brett Fromson has written a terrific, compelling story. Hitting the Jackpot is a fascinating read; it is also a sobering reminder to be careful what you wish for. While the fabulously successful enterprise that is Foxwoods - and the riches it has bestowed on this accidental band of Americans - looks an awful lot like the American Dream come true, one gets the sense that in this story we are not far, in fact, from the Trail of Tears.

I was 80 pages into this book the first time I picked it up. And I don't even like gambling! While seemingly a factual account of the creation of the Foxwoods casino, Fromson's book is also superb America story. It opens with a historic battle -- very interesting -- and Fromson cleverly utilizes the sordid legal trail this is America's relationship with its indigenous people, as a way to trace how Foxwoods came to be. In fact, what is ultimately a story behind the best payoff in history -- nearly vanished Conn.-based Indian tribe cashes in to the tune of billions -- is also a document that testifies to social and cultural issues. While it is a must read for those interested in gambling, it is absolutely a must read for lawyers (due to the superb tracing of Foxwood's legal right to exist) as well those interested in American history and Native Americans. I'd advise college professors to give the book a whirl in the classroom. Given Fromson's financial writing background, this book is best describe as being in the genre of Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker/Moneyball). Factual history made interesting thanks to superb storytelling skills from the author.

Duval Fromson's latest doesn't just immediately join the canon, it redefines it.You read Hitting the Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History, and suddenly thinking of how you responded to all you have read before is like trying to understand how people felt about dance before Balanchine, about jazz before Satchmo, about cuisine before Escoffier. The Pequots, the Pequod, peas in a pod, the ontological argument for the existence of God, Cape Cod, codicils, the Dewey Decimal system, Pynchon, hit men, Mennonites, Bud Light, light sabers, Dorothy L. Sayers, prayer knots, sun spots, the Pequots -- Duval Fromson takes a freewheeling look at the webs that enmesh us and somehow makes a tapestry of them.