Federal help sought on land-claim issues
Apr. 13, 2000

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON — Officials from Madison, Oneida and five other Upstate New York counties lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday for federal help in their battle over Indian land claims.

The delegation met for an hour with Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

“The group expressed their disappointment and anger at the federal government for being so stridently on one side,” Schumer said.

The U.S. Justice Department has intervened in the Oneida Indian Nation land claim on behalf of the Oneida tribes. The tribes are suing Oneida and Madison counties and New York state for damages, claiming the state wrongfully took 250,000 acres of Oneida land in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Other land claims are brewing throughout Upstate New York.

The group also met with Justice Department officials to discuss the Oneidas’ dredging at Marion Manor Marina on Oneida Lake.

Oneida Nation spokesman Mark Emery said earlier the work was being done in consultation with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Schumer said Justice Department officials said Wednesday that “the Army Corps of Engineers made a mistake” by not requiring the Nation to first get a dredging permit. He said the department would notify the corps that the Oneida Nation “will have to get a permit, like anyone else.”

A local contingent, led by Oneida County Executive Ralph J. Eannace Jr., landed at Oneida County Airport Wednesday night, optimistic the meetings caused federal officials to see the other side in land claim disputes.

“They have to assert the authority of federal law, whether we’re in Indian country or any part of the U.S.,” Eannace said.