The
Oneida Indian Nation’s land claim has transfixed
Central New York for years. As the process moves forward,
the Observer-Dispatch adds a new dimension to our coverage
with
a special section of our web site devoted to the Oneidas,
the land claim and the other important issues regarding
the Indian Nations.
Judge
hears case in Oneida Indian Nation Court
Dec. 29, 2000
Oneida Nation Court Judge Stewart F.
Hancock Jr. said Thursday he might not have the authority
to decide a case that challenges the legitimacy of
the Nation’s government.
Many
land-claim issues still unresolved remains on Oneida
issues
Oct. 2, 2000
Landowners
are off the hook for damages in the Oneida land claim,
but their lives still will be changed for generations,
no matter how the case is decided by a jury.
Officials
advocate new negotiations
Sept. 27, 2000
As the fallout settles from Monday's
court ruling letting landowners off the hook in the
Oneida Indian land claim, some players in the case
are hoping the decision will reopen the door to a
negotiated settlement.
Judge
hopes decision will relieve tensions
Sept.
26, 2000
Landowners
in Oneida and Madison counties are out of the Oneida
Indian Nation land claim. New York state is in.
Nation:
'State can no longer avoid responsibility'
Sept.
26, 2000
Oneida Indian Nation ratcheted up the
pressure to settle its long-standing land-claim case
when it went to court seeking to sue 20,000 individual
landowners. The motion was dismissed Monday.
Landowners
subdued over McCurn's ruling
Sept.
26, 2000
A battle’s won, but the fight’s
not over.
Ruling
draws reactions
Sept.
26, 2000
A
federal judge’s decision not to include 20,000
private landowners in the Oneida Indian Nation land-claim
case elicited a barrage of criticism Monday night
of the U.S. Justice Department for ever targeting
the residents in the first place.
COMPLETE
TEXT OF THE RULING
Federal
official discusses land claim
Sept.
19, 2000
Interior
Dept.’s Gover: Gaming has worked.
Boehlert
says experience works in his favor
Aug.
17, 2000
U.S.
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert named prescription drug benefits
and lowering the minimum wage as two priorities in
his bid for a 10th term in the 23rd Congressional
District.
Region
waits while watching Cayuga trial
Aug.
3, 2000
After
a year and a half on the front lines of the Oneida
land claim, lawyers for Oneida and Madison counties
are on the sidelines in U.S. District Court Judge
Neal P. McCurn’s Syracuse courtroom this summer.
Judge
orders land-claim dispute back to courtroom
June
22, 2000
U.S.
District Court Judge Neal P. McCurn called off the
tortured Oneida Indian land-claim negotations and
pulled the case back into his courtroom.
FULL
TEXT OF MEDIATION TERMINATION ORDER
Schumer
uses appointment to make statement
July
21, 2000
Schumer
and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford, have repeatedly
asked Attorney General Janet Reno re-examine her department’s
unbending defense of the Oneida Indian Nation in its
federal lawsuit against Oneida and Madison counties.
Failed negotiations
not a surprise to landowners
June
13, 2000
The
collapse of negotiations in the Oneida Indian Nation
land claim failed to surprise the affected landowners
that have watched the process most closely.
Oneida
Indian Nation issues in holding pattern
June
11, 2000
The
property tax lawsuit between the Oneida Indian Nation
of New York and the city of Sherrill probably will
not go to court until next year, Sherrill City Manager
David Barker said Monday.
Land-claim
parties meet today
June
9, 2000
Officials
hope a settlement finally comes.
Meeting
set June 9 on land-claim dispute
June
1, 2000
A
return to the negotiating table by parties to the
Oneida Indian Nation land claim took another step
forward Wednesday.
Schumer
presses land claim at hearing
May
26, 2000
Senator
says he may hold up confirmation of nominee.
Land-claim parties
submit papers to federal judge
May
23, 2000
Sides
still not talking to each other.
Nation employees
distribute postcards to county leaders
May
23, 2000
The
Nation handed out thousands of preprinted postcards
at employee meetings called to discuss the land claim,
Nation spokesman Mark Emery said Monday.
Land-claim
deadline nears
May
19, 2000
Schumer
asks Reno to protect landowners.
Reports
due on claim status
May
3, 2000
Lawyers
from all sides in the Oneida Indian land claim have
until the close of business today to file their recommendations
on the status of the case with U.S. District Court
Judge Neal P. McCurn.
Oneidas
seek ruling on campaign donations
Apr.
28, 2000
The
Oneida Indian Nation has asked the Federal Election
Commission to clarify a federal law that prohibits
the tribe from making political contributions totaling
more than $25,000 a year.
Counties
respond to offer
Apr.
27, 2000
The
Oneida Indian Nation says in court it wouldn't evict
residents. But Oneida and Madison counties aren't
satisfied.
Sheriffs
end ties with Oneidas
Apr.
18, 2000
The
Oneida and Madison county sheriffs ended their deputization
arrangement with the Oneida Indian Police Department
Monday.
Schumer
calls for U.S. mediation
Apr.
15
The
U.S. Justice Department should mediate the Oneida Indian
Nation land claim, not serve as a plaintiff in the case,
U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer said Friday.
Halbritter
calls for return to talks
Apr.
14, 2000
Oneida
Indian Nation Representative Raymond Halbritter Thursday
called on the leaders of Oneida and Madison county
to return to the bargaining table to settle the Oneida
land claim to 250,000 acres in the two counties.
Don’t
let anger hurt the people
Apr.
14, 2000
Don’t
sever police ties with Oneidas - an O-D editorial.
Federal help
sought on land-claim issues
Apr.
13, 2000
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.
Indian
land claims to be discussed in D.C.
Apr.
12, 2000
Representatives
from 7 counties visit with federal officials today.
New
land-claim group seeks to join national organization
Apr.
12, 2000
Organizers
of a new group opposed to the Oneida Indian land claim
have not settled on the exact structure of the organization
but they are focused on its top priority — a
May lobbying effort in Washington, D.C.
Land claim
burden falls to the people
Apr.
11, 2000
An
O-D editorial.
Counties ask
Oneidas to re-enter negotiations
Apr.
9, 2000
Oneida
and Madison county officials said Saturday they still
believe mediation is the best way to solve the Oneida
Indian land-claim dispute.
Officials
write letters on land claim
Apr.
7, 2000
Gov.
George Pataki, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and
U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford, each
wrote letters to federal officials in the wake of
the April 4 collapse of Oneida Indian Nation land-claim
mediation talks.
Pataki
blames U.S. in failed talks
Apr.
7, 2000
Governor
writes president seeking Justice Department withdrawal
from land-claim case.
Halbritter:
Oneidas made 'fair' land offer
Apr.
6, 2000
The
leader of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York called
on the people of the region Wednesday to rise up and
force their political leaders to accept the Oneidas’
“fair” offer to settle the land-claim dispute.
National
organization seeks reform of Indian policies
Apr.
6, 2000
Area
residents have another advocacy group to turn to in
what many of them perceive as a land battle against
the Oneida Indian Nation.
Land-claim
talks end in failure
Apr.
5, 2000
The
last flicker of hope for an amicable settlement of
the Oneida Indian land claim died Tuesday.
Attorneys
for landowners quit
Mar.
22, 2000
Koziol,
King take new positions.
Land-claim talks might resume soon
Mar.
14, 2000
The
Oneida Indian Nation land claim appears to be headed
back to the negotiating table, Settlement Master Ronald
Riccio said Monday.
Fear,
frustration greet stalemate
Mar. 12, 2000
Like
many people in Western Oneida County, Jack Morgan
was hoping mediation would bring an end to the uncertainty
some 20,000 landowners have felt since the Oneida
Indian Nation attempted to name them as defendants
in their land claim more than a year ago.
Land-claim
talks collapse
Mar.
11, 2000
A
year of negotiations in the Oneida Indian Nation's
claim to thousands of acres of land in Central New
York ended Friday in a Florida courtroom with an impasse.
Friday
a key date in land-claim case
Mar.
7, 2000
Senior
U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn has ordered lawyers
for the parties involved in the land-claim case to explain
to him Friday why they have not settled the dispute
in a year of negotiations under Settlement Master Ronald
Riccio.
No deal,
no victory
Mar.
4, 2000
An
Observer-Dispatch editorial debates Judge Neal McCum's
decision about land claim issues.
Land-claim
parties to meet in Florida
Mar.
2, 2000
The
fate of the Oneida Indian land-claim mediation effort
might be decided in a federal courtroom in Florida next
week.
Sheriff’s
probe of Nation police continues
Mar.
1, 2000
A
review of an earlier Oneida Indian Nation Police investigation
has yet to turn up any evidence Oneida Nation officers
violated a deputization agreement with Oneida and Madison
counties, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.
Casino
gives amusement industry a jolt
Feb.
27, 2000
The
amusement segment of the service industry grew steadily
in the past six years, in large part because of the
jobs created by Turning Stone, said Mark Barbano, regional
economist with the Utica office of the state Department
of Labor.
Land-claim
report submitted to judge
Feb.
26, 2000
A
report suggesting whether or not Oneida Indian Nation
land-claim negotiations should continue is in the hands
of U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn.
No
progress in land-claim talks
Feb.
25, 2000
Settlement
master to give report to judge today.
Eviction
case moves to federal court
Feb.
24, 2000
The
Oneida Indian Nation has made a federal case out of
Sherrill’s move to evict it from property on Route
5.
Land-claim
parties hope to continue taking strides
Feb.
23, 2000
Key
players in the Oneida land claim will meet Thursday
for the second time in a week as talks accelerate in
hopes a settlement can be found.
Peace circles
will not change landowners' key concerns
Feb.
22, 2000
The
people of Central New York should not tolerate a self-proclaimed
"foreign nation" in our midst. The "Oneida
Nation" does not follow the U.S. Constitution,
the Iroquois Constitution, or any other written constitution.
Lawyer:
Oneidas must take notice
Feb.
18, 2000
Landowners
and elected leaders are studying the nearly $37 million
settlement in the Cayuga land claim to see what the
implications might be for the ongoing Oneida land-claim
fight.
Jury:
Cayugas’ land worth $37M
Feb.
18, 2000
A
federal court jury Thursday recommended the Cayuga
Indian Nation receive $36.9 million for its lost ancestral
lands, a figure a lawyer for the tribe called “ridiculous.”
Sherrill
moves to evict Oneidas
Feb.
17, 2000
The
city of Sherrill served an eviction notice on the
Oneida Indian Nation Wednesday, but a city attorney
said he does not expect the Nation to be physically
ejected from the disputed property.
Sherrill
takes ownership of Nation site
Feb.
10, 2000
Sherrill
has started foreclosure proceedings on 10 parcels
owned by the Oneidas for nonpayment of approximately
$12,000 in city property taxes.
NY legislators
accept Oneida cash
Feb.
7, 2000
Filings
with the state Board of Election show Assemblywoman
RoAnn Destito, D-Rome, accepted $200 from the Oneidas
— part of $11,500 raised to help defend her seat
in November’s election. The Nation also gave
$250 to Assemblyman Alexander Gromack, D-Rockland
County.
Riccio:
No land-claim offer
Feb.
3, 2000
The
man in charge of the Oneida land-claim talks denied
Wednesday an offer has been made to settle the dispute,
contrary to the claim of a Canadian Oneida Indian
involved in negotiations to settle the claim out of
court.
