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JULY 20, 2000

Peter M Whiteley, an anthropology professor at Sarah Lawrence College who is testifying on behalf of the federal government in the Cayuga Nation land claim settlement trial, admitted the federal government, not the state, may have bribed the tribe while the state illegaly purchased 64,000-acres to the state of New York.

Whiteley's testimony came on the third day of the final phase of the Cayuga land claims case before US District Court Judge Neal P. McCurn. McCurn must decide how much interest, if any, to award the tribe for the sold land.

Factors in adding interest include how the state treated the tribe. Whiteley earlier testified the state intended to remove, not negotiate with tribes and treated the Cayuga unfairly.

A jury in February decided the land was worth $36.9 million.

Get the Story:
Professor says Feds may have bribed Iroquois (AP /19)

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