The Defense of Indian Land Rights: William Bollan and the Mohegan Case in 1743.

In 1743 the Mohegan tribe, through attorney William Bollan, asserted its rights to 120 square miles of land in southeastern Connecticut, land that had long been settled and subdivided, before His Majesty's Court of Commissioners. The suit's defense of native culture, and its appearance in a Crown rather than colonial court, was highly unusual. But although questions of Indian rights became part of the case, much of it revolved around partisan colonial interests. The Mason family was perhaps the central element in the case, as they sought to gain control over Indian lands from the Connecticut colony by championing Indian rights. After several decades of litigation, the suit was settled in favor of Connecticut in 1773.