Land-claim parties submit papers to federal judge
May 23, 2000

By R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

Key players in the Oneida Indian land claim continue to say they want to settle the issue out of court, but the only things they have negotiated lately are rates for newspaper ads promoting their respective positions.

Parties in the land claim submitted papers to U.S. District Court Judge Neal P. McCurn Monday to let him know if they want the case to go back to court or to the bargaining table.

A law clerk said McCurn has not decided when he will act on the lawyers’ presentations.

The judge is involved in heavily preparing the second phase of the Cayuga Indian land claim.

A jury awarded the Cayugas $36.9 million in damages for 64,000 acres in the Finger Lakes region that was taken from them.

McCurn next will hear arguments on how much interest and penalties should be added to that amount.

The Oneida Indians of New York, Wisconsin and Canada want compensation for 250,000 acres of land in the Madison and Oneida counties that they claim was taken illegally by New York state in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

County officials insist they want to avoid court action and settle the land claim privately.

Oneida Indian Nation of New York leaders echo those feelings.

Yet, neither they nor their lawyers are talking to one another, and there has been no progress toward a settlement since more than a year of negotiations ended in early April.

The counties and the New York Oneidas have been stating their cases in paid newspaper advertisements since talks broke off April 4.

Oneida Nation of New York spokesman Mark Emery would not say exactly what was in the Nation’s letter to the judge.

He said only that “the Nation has made additional constructive ideas to the judge that ought to help settle this land claim, assuming the state and counties want to settle.”

The judge extended the original filing deadline in April after the New York Oneidas offered to remove potential sanctions against individual landowners in the claim area.

“The Oneida Indian Nation is committed to settling the land claim through negotiations,” Emery said Monday.

C. Lee Hinkleman Sr., land-claim liaison for Oneida County, said Monday both counties also would prefer a negotiated settlement.

But several issues are keeping the sides from the bargaining table, including whether sales taxes must be paid on goods sold by Oneidas to non-Indians, how much land the Oneidas would be allowed to claim as Indian territory and landowner protection.

The counties rejected the New York Oneidas’ offer to remove penalties against owners because the offer could have been withdrawn if anyone challenged a future settlement.