Post by blackcrowheart on Jun 23, 2008 17:30:16 GMT -5
Cayuga Nation land deal opposed
SENECA FALLS - Seneca County residents loudly decried a proposed Cayuga land
claim settlement at a special meeting of the Seneca County Board of
Supervisors on Monday night.
Following a similar meeting and reaction in Cayuga County last week,
citizens told the Seneca County leadership that they want to continue fighting the
Cayuga Nation of New York's attempts to reclaim its land lost two centuries
ago rather than reach a settlement.
The audience at the Seneca Falls Recreational Center listened quietly while
attorney Brian Laudadio, representing Seneca County, listed the proposal's
main points, and Supervisor David L. Dresser of Ovid laid out its financial
aspects. When residents and town officials criticized the plan, however, the
audience cheered on the speakers, waved American flags and applauded loudly.
"This 'surrender' document should never be considered," said Phillip Knapp
of Varick. He suggested the settlement would waste sacrifices U.S. military
forces are making on behalf of Americans.
"It's about equality for all, not supercitizen status," said former Seneca
Falls Supervisor Richard Ricci, who now lives in Fayette, echoing the
complaints of many who were disgruntled by federal laws and treaties that assure
special status for Native Americans.
Some residents even derailed the "Pledge of Allegiance" at the beginning of
the meeting, chanting, "One Nation! One Nation!" repeatedly when the audience
reached the part of the pledge that says "...one nation under God."
Approximately 100 people attended the special meeting. At least a dozen
carried picket signs with slogans such as "I am a Native American. I was born
here and I pay taxes."
The proposal was hammered out between the part of the Cayuga Nation
represented by tribal council member Clint Halftown, officials from both counties
that once were Cayuga homelands, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's staff. They had
been meeting since last fall, when the U.S. Department of Interior,
considering an application from the Cayugas to grant them lands through a trust
application, suggested a negotiated settlement.
The proposal would:
- Cap the Cayuga Nation's lands to 10,000 acres that it buys in Cayuga and
Seneca counties. (The original claim sought return of 64,000 acres, about
two-thirds of them in Cayuga County.)
- Give the two central New York counties a total of $12.8 million in annual
revenue from a potential casino, located tentatively in the Catskills. The
figure assumes the casino would earn nearly $500 million annually.
- Give the counties veto power over any class II gaming facilities, such as
electronic bingo parlors, in their boundaries.
- Withdraw the Cayuga Nation's federal trust application from the U.S.
Department of Interior.
- Deny any land for the Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma, an offshoot of the
original Cayuga Nation that is also seeking a foothold in New York again.
- Pay an additional $2.5 million to the counties annually, based on land
holdings in them.
- Place limits on the amount of Cayuga Nation land allowed in any particular
municipality within the counties.
- Assure the Cayuga Nation would submit to environmental and building codes
matching state standards.
- County officials suggested that if the Cayugas continue to pursue a land
trust agreement with the federal government, which has suggested it would
agree to one, the local communities would have less control and end up losing
more in taxes when the Cayugas regain tax-free reservation lands.
"I don't agree with federal Indian law, but I think we have to work within
its parameters at this point," said Laudadio.
Halftown, interviewed last week, said residents of Cayuga County continued
to attack the rights Native American are exercising, rather than considering
the settlement.
"They say Indians have special rights. They do not understand the current
federal law. Indians do have special rights established by treaties, executive
statutes and federal laws. ... We have those rights."
Joseph Heath, an attorney representing an anti-gambling faction of the
Cayuga Nation, said the land dispute claim continues to bring out anti-Indian
sentiment. "It's a very polite, quiet racism, but it's there," Heath said. He
attended the Cayuga County meeting, but not the Seneca County session.
Halftown said the Cayugas favor a restricted fee settlement for the land
because it guarantees the Cayugas will own it, unlike a trust agreement in which
the federal government would hold the land in trust, as it does with many
Native American nations in the West.
The Seneca County Board of Supervisors' Native American Affairs Committee is
due to take up the matter at its next meeting on June 26, but several
members of the board suggested it would probably be tabled for additional
consideration and to give other citizens more time to voice their opinions.
"I'm still open," said Varick Supervisor Joan Teichner. "I'm going to be
listening to the residents of Varick." She noted that most of the Varick
residents who spoke Monday night live outside the actual claim area.
Board Chairman Edward Barto of Fayette said, "It's too important a decision
to be (decided by just) 14 people," referring to his fellow supervisors. He
recommended citizens contact their respective supervisors to express their
points of view.
SENECA FALLS - Seneca County residents loudly decried a proposed Cayuga land
claim settlement at a special meeting of the Seneca County Board of
Supervisors on Monday night.
Following a similar meeting and reaction in Cayuga County last week,
citizens told the Seneca County leadership that they want to continue fighting the
Cayuga Nation of New York's attempts to reclaim its land lost two centuries
ago rather than reach a settlement.
The audience at the Seneca Falls Recreational Center listened quietly while
attorney Brian Laudadio, representing Seneca County, listed the proposal's
main points, and Supervisor David L. Dresser of Ovid laid out its financial
aspects. When residents and town officials criticized the plan, however, the
audience cheered on the speakers, waved American flags and applauded loudly.
"This 'surrender' document should never be considered," said Phillip Knapp
of Varick. He suggested the settlement would waste sacrifices U.S. military
forces are making on behalf of Americans.
"It's about equality for all, not supercitizen status," said former Seneca
Falls Supervisor Richard Ricci, who now lives in Fayette, echoing the
complaints of many who were disgruntled by federal laws and treaties that assure
special status for Native Americans.
Some residents even derailed the "Pledge of Allegiance" at the beginning of
the meeting, chanting, "One Nation! One Nation!" repeatedly when the audience
reached the part of the pledge that says "...one nation under God."
Approximately 100 people attended the special meeting. At least a dozen
carried picket signs with slogans such as "I am a Native American. I was born
here and I pay taxes."
The proposal was hammered out between the part of the Cayuga Nation
represented by tribal council member Clint Halftown, officials from both counties
that once were Cayuga homelands, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's staff. They had
been meeting since last fall, when the U.S. Department of Interior,
considering an application from the Cayugas to grant them lands through a trust
application, suggested a negotiated settlement.
The proposal would:
- Cap the Cayuga Nation's lands to 10,000 acres that it buys in Cayuga and
Seneca counties. (The original claim sought return of 64,000 acres, about
two-thirds of them in Cayuga County.)
- Give the two central New York counties a total of $12.8 million in annual
revenue from a potential casino, located tentatively in the Catskills. The
figure assumes the casino would earn nearly $500 million annually.
- Give the counties veto power over any class II gaming facilities, such as
electronic bingo parlors, in their boundaries.
- Withdraw the Cayuga Nation's federal trust application from the U.S.
Department of Interior.
- Deny any land for the Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma, an offshoot of the
original Cayuga Nation that is also seeking a foothold in New York again.
- Pay an additional $2.5 million to the counties annually, based on land
holdings in them.
- Place limits on the amount of Cayuga Nation land allowed in any particular
municipality within the counties.
- Assure the Cayuga Nation would submit to environmental and building codes
matching state standards.
- County officials suggested that if the Cayugas continue to pursue a land
trust agreement with the federal government, which has suggested it would
agree to one, the local communities would have less control and end up losing
more in taxes when the Cayugas regain tax-free reservation lands.
"I don't agree with federal Indian law, but I think we have to work within
its parameters at this point," said Laudadio.
Halftown, interviewed last week, said residents of Cayuga County continued
to attack the rights Native American are exercising, rather than considering
the settlement.
"They say Indians have special rights. They do not understand the current
federal law. Indians do have special rights established by treaties, executive
statutes and federal laws. ... We have those rights."
Joseph Heath, an attorney representing an anti-gambling faction of the
Cayuga Nation, said the land dispute claim continues to bring out anti-Indian
sentiment. "It's a very polite, quiet racism, but it's there," Heath said. He
attended the Cayuga County meeting, but not the Seneca County session.
Halftown said the Cayugas favor a restricted fee settlement for the land
because it guarantees the Cayugas will own it, unlike a trust agreement in which
the federal government would hold the land in trust, as it does with many
Native American nations in the West.
The Seneca County Board of Supervisors' Native American Affairs Committee is
due to take up the matter at its next meeting on June 26, but several
members of the board suggested it would probably be tabled for additional
consideration and to give other citizens more time to voice their opinions.
"I'm still open," said Varick Supervisor Joan Teichner. "I'm going to be
listening to the residents of Varick." She noted that most of the Varick
residents who spoke Monday night live outside the actual claim area.
Board Chairman Edward Barto of Fayette said, "It's too important a decision
to be (decided by just) 14 people," referring to his fellow supervisors. He
recommended citizens contact their respective supervisors to express their
points of view.