In the mid-seventies, the Pequot tribe had only one member -- an elderly woman who would beg her grandson to come live on the reservation and save it from falling into government hands upon her death. Award-winning journalist Kim Isaac Eisler tells the remarkable story of how Richard "Skip" Hayward, then an unemployed ship-worker, granted his grandmother's wish, revived the dying clan, and transformed the Pequots into the richest and most influential band of Native Americans in history. Making use of ancient laws and court decisions never intended to benefit Native Americans the way they have, Hayward single-handedly laid the groundwork for Foxwoods and its tremendous success. In a story rife with drama, he faced Connecticut governors, and such worthy adversaries as Steve Wynn and Donald Trump, and formed controversial alliances with Malaysian moneyman Lim Goh Tung, renegade Seminole Chief James Billie, and Bill Clinton. And for one of the first times in history -- a truly ironic reversal -- the bizarre legal structure governing Native-Americans worked to their advantage in a mainstream enterprise. Eisler deftly explores the wide-ranging issues that have framed America's great casino debate, and the ramifications of the Native-American casino boom in a nation still fearful of its Native-American roots.