The U.S. Supreme Court will meet in private conference this Thursday to consider the Cayuga land claim.

The Cayuga Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma filed suit over 64,000 acres of stolen land in New York. A federal judge awarded the tribes $247 million for the loss of the land.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. In a 2-1 decision, the judge said the tribes waited to long to file suit and said the "disruptive" nature of the claim was foreclosed by the Supreme Court's decision in Sherrill v. Oneida Nation, a land-into-trust case.

The tribes, backed by the Bush administration, appealed. Briefs in support of the tribes were filed by the Onondaga Nation, the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, the Haudenosaunee, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and the National Congress of American Indians.

Briefs in opposition were filed by New York Gov. George Pataki (R) and the other state defendants.

The justices will announce whether they will hear the case next week.

Get the Story:
Court to review tribes' case (The Syracuse Post-Standard 5/8)

Supreme Court Briefs:
Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v. Pataki

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

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

Relevant Links:
NARF-NCAI Tribal Supreme Court Project - http://doc.narf.org/sc/index.html

Related Stories:
Cayuga Nation files response brief on land claim (04/20)
BIA holds meeting on Cayuga Nation land-into-trust (03/02)
Cayuga land claim at issue before high court (2/21)
BIA proposes to take land into trust for Cayuga Nation (2/13)
Cayuga Nation pays property taxes in two counties (2/10)
Supreme Court asked to revive Cayuga land claim (2/8)
DOJ asks Supreme Court to hear Cayuga land claim (01/18)
Cayuga Nation not waiting for answer on trust lands (12/07)
Schumer opposes Cayuga Nation land-into-trust (11/04)
Judge extends Sherrill decision to Cayuga Nation (10/06)
Cayuga Nation shuts down Class II gaming facility (10/5)
Cason: Cayuga Nation subject to Sherrill decision (9/29)
Cayuga tribes to challenge land claim decision (7/5)
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)
Oklahoma tribe loses bid for out-of-state land (12/03)
Cayuga Nation land rights upheld by federal judge (4/26)
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)