Land-claim deal suffers setbacks
April 11, 2005

By YANCEY ROY
O-D Albany bureau

ALBANY -- Key state senators say a tentative deal to settle longstanding Indian land-claim lawsuits and build five casinos in the Catskills is going nowhere following a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Native American property.

At minimum, the deal needs an extensive overhaul, said Republicans who represent the impacted areas. As written, the proposed settlement, announced by Gov. George Pataki last fall, would never make it to the Senate floor for a vote, they predicted.

"No it will not," said Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, Orange County, whose district includes the proposed casino sites in Sullivan County.

Sen. Raymond Meier, R-Western, whose district covers a large swath of the land-claim areas, said the proposal "must go back to the drawing board."

At issue is a tentative agreement between Pataki and five Native American tribes, with each getting rights to one casino: the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, the St. Regis Mohawks, the Stockbridge-Munsees, the Cayuga Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma. It also would clear disputed land titles covering roughly 300,000 acres in Seneca, Cayuga, Madison, Oneida, Franklin and St. Lawrence counties. Counties in the disputed areas would get annual payments in the millions of dollars and the state government would get 20-25 percent of slot-machine revenues at the casinos.

The state Senate and Assembly would have to approve the settlement.

However, the political landscape was changed dramatically last month by a U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Native American property and taxation and an Indian-run convenience store in Sherrill.

The court ruled that the Oneida Nation could not expand its tax-exempt property holdings by buying up land that has been outside its control for decades, even centuries. That means that lands recently acquired by tribes can't be considered as reservation land and, therefore, sovereign and off limits to taxes.

In immediate terms, that means the Oneidas' sprawling Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona rests on land that is in limbo -- and could be viewed as operating illegally, some officials say.

It also could throw into doubt part of the settlement that allows the Oneidas to add 18,000 acres in Central New York to their existing reservation. Further, it raises questions about a provision that would continue to allow tribes to sell convenience-store items such as gas and cigarettes tax free.

"In light of the Sherrill decision, there is no way for us to approve a compact," Meier said.

Other officials have been more restrained.

A Pataki aide said this week state lawyers were still analyzing the possible impacts of the court decision and that it would trigger further discussions with the tribes and local governments.

"Obviously, the decision will change many things," Todd Alhart said. "At this point, we haven't reached any conclusions about the next step in this process."

Similarly, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, D-Brooklyn, who is leading hearings on the matter, said: "The complexity of it tells us to slow down."

At least one of the Native American tribes had said months ago it signed the tentative land claim-casino deal with Pataki because of the possible ramifications of the Sherrill case. Cayuga Nation President Clint Halftown said told a newspaper in December: "If (the court justices) go against us -- we could have nothing. So, we felt that we better get on board and get something before we didn't get anything at all."

A Mohawk leader said tribes would press state lawmakers to approve the Pataki deal.

"The Sherrill decision does not stop litigation of the land claims in (New York) and exposes all the parties to years of uncertainty and legal costs," Mohawk Chief James Ransom said in a statement. "Negotiated settlements continue to be the best way to resolve the longstanding issue of claims."

The New York Oneidas -- who would get an expanded reservation but no Catskill casino under the agreement -- have repeatedly called on legislators to reject the package. They have said it would reward tribes that left New York long ago. They repeated that stance at an Assembly hearing Tuesday.

Pataki's plan does offer something for the New York Oneidas: clear title to thousands of acres in New York and the opportunity to add slot machines to Turning Stone -- if the state gets a 25 percent cut of slot revenues.

Pataki's compact with the tribes says the Legislature and Congress must approve the deal by September or it expires.

One upstate Republican said if the compact is re-opened, tribes should be offered less.

Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, Seneca County, said offering the Cayugas and the Seneca-Cayugas a casino apiece is "too much for their land claim."

"That's a billion-dollar franchise," he said. The tribes recently purchased about 64,000 acres in his district - those acres should be taxable because of the Supreme Court decision, Nozzolio said.

Assemblywoman Weinstein said the central question is the value of the tribes' land claims -- and how the Sherrill decision impacts that.

"Obviously, it does reduce some of the value," Weinstein said.

AT A GLANCE

The state Legislature has been holding on Gov. George Pataki's proposal to expand gambling in the Catskill Mountain region. Here are some of the details:

- Increase the number of authorized Catskill casinos from three to five, most likely all in Sullivan County. Three were originally authorized just a month after 9/11 as the economy dropped off. However, none have been built yet.

- Settle land-claim lawsuits with five tribes, with each getting rights to one casino: the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, the Akwesasne Mohawks, the Stockbridge-Munsees, the Cayuga Nation of New York, and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma. The settlement would clear disputed land titles covering roughly 300,000 acres in Seneca, Cayuga, Madison, Oneida, Franklin and St. Lawrence counties.

- Cut in the state and county governments. All the counties in the disputed areas would get annual payments in the millions of dollars, including $5 million apiece to Madison and Oneida. The state would get 20-25 percent of slot-machine revenues at the casinos. That could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

- Opposition comes from anti-gambling groups, out-of-state casinos and the Oneida Nation of New York, which one not get one of the new casinos.

- A recent a U.S. Supreme Court decision changes the political landscape dramatically. The court ruled that the Oneida Nation could not expand its tax-exempt property holdings by buying up land that has been outside its control for decades, even centuries. That means that lands recently acquired by tribes can't be considered as reservation land and, therefore, sovereign and off limits to taxes.