From Connecticut and Maine to California, the explosion of Indian tribes with massive gambling operations has prompted a fierce nationwide debate. Hitting the Jackpot reveals the true story of how the Mashantucket Pequots of Connecticut became the richest Indian tribe in history. The culmination of a three-year investigation, Fromson uncovers a labyrinthine tale of legal maneuverings, back-room political dealings, and ethnic reinvention. Fromson details the step-by-step process by which today's Pequots gained tribal recognition, hired top lawyers to claim thousands of acres of land, exploited a state law meant for church yard sales to gain the right to open Foxwoods, now a $1.2 billion-a-year operation, and distilled the barest traces of Pequot lineage into a full-fledged tribe with over six hundred new tribal members, a yearly pow-wow that offers the biggest cash prizes in America, and a $250 million museum, one of the costliest in American history.