Imagining the Nation with House Odds: Representing American Indian Identity at Mashantucket

This article examines representational strategies used by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to define and display cultural authenticity—in tribal, regional, and pan-Indian terms—in public, tourist spaces. It focuses upon the articulation of cultural identity, and narratives of the exotic and the authentic, in two major tribally owned and operated sites of representation on the Mashantucket Reservation: the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and the Foxwoods Resort Casino.