Oneida, NY - The Oneida Indian Nation lost a major court decision Monday that could doom its 40-year-old land claim case. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the nation can’t reclaim its ancient lands and the state doesn’t have to pay any money for the 250,000 acres the Oneidas say was illegally taken from them...
Oneida, NY - The Oneida Indian Nation lost a major court decision Monday that could doom its 40-year-old land claim case.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the nation can’t reclaim its ancient lands and the state doesn’t have to pay any money for the 250,000 acres the Oneidas say was illegally taken from them centuries ago. The Oneidas had said they were owed at least $500 million.
If the ruling stands, it sweeps away decades of uncertainty for thousands of landowners in Oneida and Madison counties, who at one point faced eviction under the lawsuit. It would also deny the Oneida Indians the chance to receive compensation for what they view as ancient wrongs and broken treaties.
“Unless we can convince the 2nd Circuit it made a mistake, the land claim is in jeopardy,” said Arlinda Locklear, lawyer for the Wisconsin tribe of Oneidas, one of three tribes in the case. “It means we are now fighting uphill in the land claim case.”
The Oneida case, first filed in 1970, was the first of the New York land claim cases and laid a path for other tribes to sue for centuries-old grievances. The Oneidas once held 6 million acres in Upstate New York, but sold nearly all of it to the state. Many of the sales were not approved by the federal government, as required by federal law.
Appeals court decisions are often final, because the only recourse is an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court agrees to hear only about 1 percent of cases appealed to it.
Monday’s ruling relied heavily on one made by the 2nd Circuit in 2005, when it threw out the Cayuga Indian Nation land claim. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear that appeal, which ended the Cayuga claim.
Some predicted a similar fate for the Oneida claim after Monday’s decision.
“I think this does effectively kill the land claim,” said David Vickers, president of Upstate Citizens for Equality, a group that has battled the Oneidas over land and tax issues. “These claims are based on ancient and disputed interpretations of history and fact, and law can only reach one fair conclusion, and that is to dismiss them.”
The tribes had asked for their land back and to be paid damages. Both of those requests were rejected Monday.
By a 2-1 vote, an appeals court panel ruled that the Oneidas were not entitled to land because they waited too long to file suit and because it would be too disruptive to residents and governments. The court also said that the state has sovereign immunity in the case, meaning it can’t be sued.
“With this decision, the majority forecloses (the Oneidas) from bringing any claims seeking any remedy for their treatment at the hands of the state,” wrote Justice Nina Gershon, who dissented. Gershon agreed that the Oneidas couldn’t get their land back, but said the tribes had a right to be paid for their losses.
When the Oneidas filed their first claim 40 years ago, the New York tribe was impoverished, possessing only a 32-acre reservation. Today, the tribe owns 17,000 acres and generates more than $500 million a year at Turning Stone Resort and Casino and a chain of gas stations and smoke shops.
Madison County Supervisor John Becker said in a prepared statement that Monday was “a great day.”
“The dismissal of this land claim. ... .removes a great cloud from our community,” Becker said. “We hope the Oneidas will accept this decision as final and put this matter behind us.”
Some lawyers cautioned that Monday’s decision might not be the end.
“This is far from the last word,” said Curtis Berkey, a lawyer who helped draft the Oneidas’ case years ago and now represents the Onondaga Nation. “It’s one decision in 30-something years of litigation. Certainly the Indian nations will be heard from again.”
Berkey said it’s too early to tell what effect the decision might have on the Onondaga claim.
The New York Oneidas did not return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.
The Oneida case began when the Wisconsin, New York and Ontario Oneida tribes filed suit claiming that their land was taken illegally by New York state in the 18th and 19th centuries. The case went twice to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Oneidas had a right to pursue the claim.
In a related case in 2005, however, the Supreme Court said the Oneidas could not claim sovereignty on land lost centuries before. The court said that giving the nation sovereignty over land long held by non-Indians would be too disruptive for residents and governments.
There are about 900 New York Oneidas and about 1,900 Ontario Oneidas. About 21,000 live on Oneida tribal land in Wisconsin.
Contact Glenn Coin at gcoin@syracuse.com or 470-3251.
How does the federal court dismissal of the Oneida Indian land claim affect the Oneidas’ Turning Stone Resort & Casino?
Monday’s court ruling will likely have little effect on any Oneida Nation properties or businesses, including the sprawling Turning Stone Resort & Casino complex in Verona. The New York Oneida tribe owns outright 17,000 acres, having bought parcels on the open market since the early 1990s.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that all of that Oneida-owned land was taxable. A week later, the Oneidas asked to have all its land put into trust, whereby the federal government would own the land and the Oneidas would have control over it. Trust land can’t be taxed and is exempt from state and local laws.
The U.S. Department of Interior agreed in 2008 to take into trust about 13,000 acres, including Turning Stone Resort & Casino and its golf courses, and most of the nation’s SavOn gas stations and convenience stores. That decision is being challenged in court.
The remaining 4,000 acres, which includes some of the tribe’s gas stations, would be subject to taxes and local government control. Monday’s decision also doesn’t stop the Oneidas from buying more land later.