PRESS RELEASE: Oct. 12, 2006
Onondaga Nation Communications

ONONDAGA PRESSES FORWARD WITH LAND RIGHTS ACTION TARGETING CORPORATE POLLUTERS
Nation Charges New York State Violated Federal Law in Taking Historic Territory Amends Complaint In Light Of Recent Federal And Supreme Court Decisions

Onondaga Nation Territory—The Onondaga Nation today repeated its resolve to find a just resolution of its historic land rights action today, maintaining their rights to their historic territory while repeating that their suit will not result in evictions of their neighbors in Central New York.

“The Onondaga Nation wants this action resolved in a way that preserves, not disrupts, the social fabric of our Nation as well as that of our neighbors,” said Sidney Hill, Tadodaho (Spiritual Leader), Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs.  “We will not settle for methods used to resolve other Native American nations’ law suits.  We do not want to open or operate casinos, as casinos have not resolved any of these matters for our people.  The State has used them to attempt to divide us.”

Attorney Joseph Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation, said that recent court rulings regarding Oneida and Cayuga lands do not alter the legal strength of the Onondaga suit.  The Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that Indian land rights cases in New York State were valid, and this decision has not been changed:

• Although the federal Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit recently ruled that the Cayuga Nation’s claim for damages and other relief was not valid because of laches, or a delay in asserting the claim, it is inconceivable that the any Indian nation could have sued New York State two hundred years ago.

• The U.S. Supreme Court’s Sherrill decision in March did not reject the Oneida land claims but only said that the Oneida Nation, in buying back land in their historic territory, could not take that land off the property tax rolls of municipalities and counties.

“For more than 180 years there was no court open to the Onondaga Nation where it could assert its land rights and seek justice,”explained Robert Coulter, lead attorney for the Onondaga in their land rights action.  “It is justice that has been delayed, and it is not the fault of the Onondaga Nation or any of the Indian Nations.” 

The Nation’s attorneys filed an amended complaint today, adding statements to the Complaint that the Nation has not delayed in taking action on its land rights.  The Amended Complaint points out that it was not legally possible for Indian nations to file such lawsuits until 1974 at the earliest.  Laches cannot be used against a party that did not have access to the courts to make their claim; for New York State to use laches as a defense, it needs to show how it was harmed by the passage of time.  In reality, the state has benefited tremendously all these years from its original, illegal taking of the lands.

“At the heart of all of these suits,” Hill added, “is the search for justice.  In taking our land from us, New York State broke federal law.  All of us involved should consider the time that has passed since these actions, but these wrongs must not be ignored or dismissed out of hand.  Everyone in Central New York would benefit from correcting these injustices so we can live in peace.”

The Onondaga land rights action names Honeywell, Trigen, Clark Concrete Company, Valley Realty, and Hanson Aggregates as defendants in the suit for the environmental damage they have done to Central New York.  The havoc that these and other corporations have inflicted on the land fuels the Nation’s desire for justice.

“We intend to use our rights to this land as a legal and moral force for the environment and the Earth,” said Hill.  “We want to see polluted areas cleaned up and we want to protect those areas not yet defiled for generations to come.  All people of Central New York can benefit from this action—our land and health have been disregarded by the Albany politicians for far too long.”