Advertise:   ads@blueearthmarketing.com   712.224.5420

Opinion
Editorial: Now's the time to settle tribal land claims


"Last week's turnabout in the seemingly endless Cayuga land-claim case � an appeals court threw out a $248 million judgment favorable to the tribe � produced a predictable reaction from the Cayuga nation's attorney. Martin Gold said he would appeal: This is more like a war than a litigation.'

He's got that right. Not only has the land-claim issue in New York been a war, but it's also been a particularly protracted and confusing one, with the courts handling claims over two decades or more from the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Mohawks and others, some from distant states who have ancestral ties to New York land.

Compensation by court decree isn't working � years have passed and still the fight rages.

Now's the time for a negotiated settlement between the state and the tribes that once and for all takes these problems off the court dockets and into the legislative realm."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Land-claim riddle (The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 7/5)

Cayuga Decision:
Cayuga Nation v. New York (June 28, 2005)

Sherrill v. Oneida Nation Decision:
Syllabus | Opinion [Ginsburg] | Concurrence [Souter] | Dissent [Stevens]

Related Stories:
New York GOP says tribes 'sit around the campfire' (7/1)
Appeals court kills Cayuga land claim after 25 years (6/29)
County opposes Cayuga Nation on land-into-trust (05/25)
Cayuga Nation, county reach deal on inspections (05/12)
Column: Tribes just can't come and take 'our' land (05/11)
Cayuga Nation land case back before federal judge (05/05)
County gets order to inspect tribe's gas station (04/29)
Supreme Court ruling impacts New York land claims (4/19)
Cayuga Nation seeks BIA protection for lands (4/15)
Pataki, county blast Oneida Nation's trust land bid (4/14)
County to challenge Cayuga Nation sovereignty (4/14)
Oneida Nation seeks trust land in wake of ruling (4/14)
Cayuga tribes confident on land claim appeal (4/12)
Supreme Court decision derails Pataki settlements (4/11)
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe to pay taxes on acquired land (4/8)
Supreme Court called less sympathetic to Indians (4/7)
Fallout from Supreme Court ruling on Oneida Nation (4/6)
BIA official calls high court ruling 'quite depressing' (03/31)
Major defeat for Oneida Nation in Supreme Court case (3/30)
Cayuga Nation land rights upheld by federal judge (4/26)
Cayuga Nation's plans for land worry some in village (04/07)
Cayuga Nation's plans for land worry some in village (04/07)
Report: Seneca-Cayuga Tribe has bigger plans in store (04/06)
Tribes ask court for $1.7B and title to lost land (04/01)
Federal appeals court to hear Cayuga land claim (3/31)
NIGC accused of 'ducking' casino land issue in N.Y. (03/23)
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe seeks deal to end land claim (03/19)
Judge in N.Y. hears Seneca-Cayuga land dispute (03/12)
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe could fund arts center in N.Y. (2/26)
Arguments set for appeal of Cayuga land claim (2/25)
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe makes offer to Pataki (11/19)
Court orders Cayuga Nation to stop renovations (10/23)
Cayuga Nation proposes land claim, tax settlement (10/21)
Cayuga Nation buys another gas station (10/06)
Bill would terminate out-of-state sovereign rights (09/26)
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 (07/23)
Oneida Nation wins treaty lands case (7/22)