New land-claim group seeks to join national organization
Apr. 12, 2000

By R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

Organizers of a new group opposed to the Oneida Indian land claim have not settled on the exact structure of the organization but they are focused on its top priority — a May lobbying effort in Washington, D.C.

Utica lawyer Leon Koziol said he wants the organization to be part of the national Citizens Equal Rights Alliance to take advantage of CERA’s nationwide network of member organizations.

Russell Wheeler, a member of CERA’s board of directors, said: “We’d love to have more citizen groups,” but added that CERA “doesn’t go about starting (local) chapters, as such.”

He suggested Koziol form an independent local group that could apply for a organizational membership in CERA.

“Whether it’s as a chapter or a member organization, we’ll be part of CERA,” Koziol said Tuesday. He added another organizational meeting will be scheduled next week.

Koziol said the citizens’ three-day lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., is planned for the third week in May, but the dates have not been set.

Koziol said he also plans to attend CERA’s national meeting in Minnesota in May to discuss how to best organize the local group. He said an anonymous supporter already donated the $250 CERA membership fee.

CERA’s mission is to change federal Indian policies that it contends deny Indians and non-Indians constitutional and civil rights on and near Indian reservations.

Wheeler said the Seneca-Cayuga Chapter of the Upstate Citizens for Equality, of which he is a member, joined CERA as an organizational member.

The 4,000-member Oneida-Madison chapter of UCE is not a CERA member, chapter President Scott Peterman said. Koziol recently resigned as lawyer for the chapter.

“I want a local organization, one of whose goals is to network with other groups,” Koziol said. “CERA seems to be the largest national network.”