Oneidas stand ground on land-claim dispute
May 17, 2005

By ALLISSA KLEIN
Observer-Dispatch

Four days after being urged to settle its land claim or face a loss of jobs at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, the Oneida Indian Nation is standing behind its claim on 240,000 acres of land it says was illegally bought or stolen from the Nation.

In a prepared statement Monday, Nation spokesman Mark Emery said the Nation supports the framework of a land-claim settlement announced by the Nation, Gov. George Pataki and local counties in February 2002.

"The Nation stands behind that agreement," Emery said. "The governor also should stand by it, instead of pushing a plan to invite out-of-state tribes to build casinos in New York."

Because of opposition from another branch of Oneida Indians located in Wisconsin, the proposed 2002 pact fell apart, and now the Nation and New York state find themselves increasingly at odds over issues including taxes and the land claim. The situation has changed so much that the last land-claim deal Pataki announced, in late 2004, was made with the Wisconsin Oneidas, not the New York Oneidas.

A letter issued Friday by the state told the Nation to reach a settlement by the end of the state's legislative session, expected to be on or around June 23. Without a speedy settlement, the Nation "may jeopardize the substantial economic development and jobs generated by Turning Stone," the letter stated.

Written by state attorney Richard Platkin on behalf of Gov. George Pataki, the letter urged the Nation to work with Oneida and Madison counties, the Oneidas of Wisconsin and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community to settle its claim.

But settlements being negotiated between the state and other tribes are standing in the way of an agreement between the state and the Nation, Emery wrote.

"The governor's current policy on out-of-state tribes in the only obstacle to a global land claim settlement that involves New York's Indian nations and is in the best interest of all New Yorkers," Emery wrote. "It is time to move on from the governor's plan to bring in out-of-state tribes to New York."

Other local responses to the letter were mixed. Madison County Board of Supervisor's Chairman Rocco DiVeronica said he's grateful for Pataki's letter.

"I think it was time for the governor to step in," DiVeronica said. "I think it's time he wrote this letter and sent a message to the Nation that it's time to settle this."

Meanwhile, David Vickers, president of Upstate Citizens for Equality, a landowners rights group, said he faults Pataki for not taking more decisive action against the Nation.

"If he issues this directive to the Oneidas, everybody's wondering, 'What else, governor?'" Vickers said. "(Pataki) needs to be the governor, he needs to act and he needs to send messages by doing things, not talking about things."