HISTORY OF ONEIDA NATION LAND-CLAIM CASE
PRE-REVOLUTIONARY WAR: The Oneidas inhabit about 6 million acres in Central New York, ranging from the St. Lawrence River to the Pennsylvania border.
1775-78: The Oneidas, along with some Tuscaroras, aid the colonists in the Revolutionary War.
1794: The United States signs the Treaty of Canandaigua, which recognizes at least 250,000 acres as belonging to the Oneidas, and gives them the right to govern themselves as a sovereign nation.
1795: New York state begins making deals with individual Oneidas, promising them money if they give up their land.
1890s: Most of the Oneidas’ land has been sold or bartered away. Their territories are limited to reservations in New York, Wisconsin and Canada.
1970: The Oneidas file their first lawsuit involving the communal land claim in Oneida and Madison counties.
1985: The U.S. Supreme Court voids state treaties with Oneidas because they were never ratified by Congress.
1993: Turning Stone Casino opens.
DECEMBER 1998: The Oneida Nation announces it would try to sue 20,000 landowners to reclaim 250,000 acres that it once owned.
1999: Landowner groups mount protests against Oneidas and Turning Stone.
SPRING 2000: Year-long mediation effort collapses. Land-claim case appears headed for drawn-out resolution in U.S. District Court.
JANUARY 2001: Longtime land-claim judge Neal McCurn leaves case, which is transferred to U.S. Judge Lawrence Kahn of Albany.
DECEMBER 2001: Oneida Nation leader Ray Halbritter writes column in conciliatory tone calling for collaboration with state, local governments.
JANUARY 2002: Land-claim talks resume.
FEBRUARY 2002: Gov. George Pataki, Nation leader Ray Halbritter and Oneida and Madison counties announce deal they say could settle the land-claim case.
September 2002: U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn rejects the Wisconsin Oneida’s suit.
October 2002: Wisconsin Oneidas appeal.
July 21, 2003: A federal appeals court rejects arguments that the Oneida Indian Nation no longer exists, saying in a split decision that tribe members do not have to pay taxes on some properties in the city of Sherrill.
Dec. 7, 2004: Gov. Pataki and leaders of two Wisconsin-based tribes announce a land claim settlement that would give the tribes the chance to build casinos in the Catskills and provide Oneida and Madison counties $5 million each annually. The New York Oneidas are shut out. |
