Oneida Indian Nation Appeals - Seek Title To 250,000 Acres

The Oneida Indian Nation will ask a federal appeals court today to overturn a lower court decision that the tribe has no right to take back title to 250,000 acres of disputed land in Upstate New York.

At the same time, attorneys for New York will appear before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the lower court’s determination that the Oneidas might be entitled to millions of dollars in compensation.

The New York Oneidas joined with Oneida tribes from Canada and Wisconsin in a 1974 lawsuit claiming that more than 250,000 acres of Oneida land in Madison and Oneida counties had been illegally purchased by New York state in the 18th and 19th centuries.

After years of failed negotiations, U.S. District Court Lawrence Kahn ruled last May that the tribe could not reclaim title to the land it sold more than a century ago, but it could be entitled to some of the profits the state made reselling that property.

The Oneidas claim the state underpaid them by about $500,000. With compound interest over two centuries, that is worth $500 million today, Peter Carmen, one of the tribe’s attorneys, said Monday.

At the time, Kahn said he had no choice but to reject the Oneidas’ claim to possession of the land after two higher court decisions. However, Kahn said the Oneidas had suffered “betrayals” and deserved compensation.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a separate case involving the New York Oneidas and the city of Sherrill, ruled the tribe could not claim sovereignty on aboriginal land it had reacquired because too much time had passed.

Later the same year, the 2nd Circuit Court relied on the Sherrill decision to overturn a $248 million judgment won by the Cayugas and dismiss its land claim entirely.

The Oneidas also will be responding to the state’s motion, seeking to hold the state responsible for paying any eventual trespass damages, Carmen said.

Even if the tribe is successful at getting its possession claim restored, Carmen repeated the tribe’s assurances that the Oneidas have no intention of displacing any residents.

“There are those who want to scare the community that people will be evicted from their homes,” he said. “That issue was over many years ago. That has nothing to do with this case.”

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office did not immediately return calls seeking comment about Tuesday's hearing. In his ruling last May, Kahn dismissed both Madison and Oneida counties from the case, leaving the state as the only defendant.

“This ongoing litigation is one more reason the parties need to roll up their sleeves, work together and try to settle these differences,” Carmen said.

The land claim is separate from the New York Oneidas efforts that resulted last month in the U.S. Department of Interior agreeing to place 13,004 acres of Oneida land into federal trust, which exempts it from local and state taxes and laws.

The state, two counties and a citizens' group have said they planned to file lawsuits challenging the department’s decision by a June 19 deadline.

Source:
http://www.uticaod.com/news/x572883860/Oneida-land-claim-case-goes-before-federal-court