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Bill would terminate out-of-state sovereign rights
Friday, September 26, 2003

New York's Congressional delegation is working on a bill that would prevent a tribe from exercising jurisdiction in a state where it does not have a reservation, The Syracuse Post-Standard reports.

The goal of the legislation is to prevent the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe from building a bingo hall in New York. A federal judge is trying to decide whether the tribe's land is Indian Country and has delayed resolution until at least March 2004.

The bill could affect the rights of other tribes. The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohicans of Wisconsin, the Oneida Nation of New York, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas, the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma, the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma and the Miami Nation of Oklahoma all have claims to land in other states. In some cases, government officials have said the claims are credible.

In the Seneca-Cayug case, U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn gave local officials until March 2004 to provide additional evidence in the case. He had initially said he would decide by the end of this month.

McCurn also allowed the Cayuga Nation, based in New York, to intervene. The tribe is opposed to the Seneca-Cayugas plan to build a Class II bingo hall on the land it owns in New York.

The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe is based in Oklahoma but claims ancestral territory in New York. The tribe and the Cayuga Nation are plaintiffs in a 64,000-acre land claim suit that is on appeal.

Get the Story:
Bill to target bingo hall (The Syracuse Post-Standard 9/26)
Bill would limit out-of-state tribes’ rights on land (The Finger Lakes Times 9/26)
NY tries to bar out-of-state tribes from gaming (Reuters 9/26)
Judge delays Seneca-Cayuga bingo hall decision (AP 9/26)

Related Stories:
Appeals expected in Seneca-Cayuga Tribe's land case (09/10)
Judge to decide fate of Seneca-Cayuga Tribe's land (9/9)
Cayuga tribes slowly reclaiming ancestral territory (09/02)
Okla. tribe says court decision bolsters case (07/24)
Cayuga Nation welcomes Indian Country decision (7/23)
Oneida Nation wins treaty lands case (7/22)
Dissenting judge suggested tribe wanted casino (7/22)
N.Y. city seeks reconsideration of Oneida case (7/22)
Oneida Nation awaits ruling on tax status (04/29)
Taxes of Oneida land questioned (05/15)
Judge: Oneida land is Indian Country (6/7)
Oneida Nation disputes tax lawsuit (2/1)

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