Law
State breaks off talks to settle Cayuga land claim


The state of New York has ended negotiations to settle the Cayuga land claim.

Gov. George Pataki (R) and Cayuga Nation representative Timothy Twoguns had agreed to settle the dispute over 64,000 acres. But both sides are now blaming the other for the failure to come up with a final agreement.

The state says the tribe rejected the proposed memorandum of understanding. But the tribe says the state changed the agreement in a way that couldn't be accepted.

The settlement did not include the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, another party to the claim. The tribe was talking with Pataki but those negotiations appear to have ended.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case this spring. The state has been ordered to pay nearly $250 million to the two tribes. The state is challenging the amount of the award as too high while the tribes say it should be $1 billion.

Get the Story:
State stops settlement talks with Cayugas (The Syracuse Post-Standard 8/4)
N.Y. casino deal with tribes folds (The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 8/4)
Land claim talks break down (The Finger Lakes Times 8/4)
Casino Talks Suffer �Major Setback� (GlobeSt.Com 8/4)

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