"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]

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