U.S. Eases Stance on the Eviction of Landowners in Oneidas' Suit - NYT... http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/30/nyregion/us-eases-stance-on-the-evi...

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U.S. Eases Stance on the Eviction of Landowners in Books Update E-Mail

Oneidas' Suit Sign up for the latest book reviews, sent every Friday.

By DAVID W. CHEN See Sample | Privacy Policy

Published: March 30, 1999

The Federal Government moved yesterday to soften its support of SIGN IN TO E-MAIL

the Oneida Indians' claim to 270,000 acres of land in central New PRINT

York, saying it did not want to evict any private landowners from
their homes.

A Department of Justice official said that the Government still

supported the Oneidas' original claim that state and local
governments had acquired Oneida lands in the late 1700's and early 1800's through
illegal and coercive treaties. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
reiterated that the 20,000 or so landowners who lived within the land-claim area were
still defendants in the lawsuit, and therefore liable for any future damages.

But in recent months, the specter of eviction -- or ejectment, in legal terms -- had so
overshadowed the lawsuit, and distracted from the parallel effort to hammer out a Advertise on NYTimes.com

compromise, that the Justice Department felt that it was imperative to assure MOST POPULAR
landowners that eviction was not a viable part of the solution, the official said. So
E-MAILED BLOGGED SEARCHED
yesterday, the Department of Justice formally asked for permission to amend its
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It was not immediately clear when Judge Neal McCurn would rule on the Government's 2. The Stone: The Very Angry Tea Party
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request. But if the request is granted -- which seems all but certain -- then it could help
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assuage the anxiety that has been percolating in recent months in Madison and Oneida
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Counties, where there have been boycotts of Oneida businesses, protest meetings and
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personal threats and uncivil language.
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''They are listening. They are paying attention, and I think that's very significant,'' said 8. Paternal Bonds, Special and Strange

Representative Sherwood Boehlert, a Republican from Utica, summing up his 9. U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan
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discussions with Government officials. ''I think this takes away the cloud of uncertainty
that's hovering over all the private property owners in the region that someone is going Go to Complete List
to knock on their door and say, 'Get out!' ''

Others, including Gov. George E. Pataki, want the Government to go even further.

''The Federal Government's decision to back down from its outrageous attempt to
frighten and intimidate the people of central New York by seeking to eject them from
their homes is a small first step, but not nearly enough,'' Mr. Pataki said in a statement.
He added that the Government ''must end its aggressive campaign against its own
citizens by completely removing all homeowners from the land claim lawsuit.''

Leon R. Koziol, a lawyer for Upstate Citizens for Equality, a landowners group that says
it has 3,500 members, was even more blunt. While he said he believed that the
Government's request took a little bit of the steam out of the Oneidas' claim, he also
blamed the Government for stirring up fear and resentment in the first place.

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U.S. Eases Stance on the Eviction of Landowners in Oneidas' Suit - NYT... http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/30/nyregion/us-eases-stance-on-the-evi...

''They used the people as pawns,'' Mr. Koziol said. ''It was an unconscionable act, to use
their own citizens as pawns in a scheme to raise the level of political discussion and
legal argument in a lawsuit.''

A spokeswoman for the Oneida Indian Nation, Carole Trimble, characterized the
Government's request as inconsequential to the merits of the case. She restated the
Oneidas' hope that they can reach a resolution that is fair to all sides.

The dispute between the Oneidas and the state officially dates from 1970, when the
Oneidas filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court saying that their land had been seized
illegally. In 1985, the Supreme Court upheld the Oneidas' claim. But talks between the
Oneidas and the state stalled for years.

So in December, to prod the negotiations along, the Federal Government sided with the
Oneidas, filing an amended complaint that named 20,000 landowners as defendants.
And that, in turn, unleashed a latent sense of resentment over the Oneidas' recent good
fortunes.

Like all federally recognized tribes, the Oneida Indian Nation does not pay taxes. And
thanks in part to their new Turning Stone Casino, the Oneidas have seemingly risen
from abject poverty to unbridled affluence in a very short time, while their neighbors
have been grappling with a tough local economy.

To vent their frustration, more than 2,000 motorists participated in a rally in January
in front of the casino. An even larger one is scheduled for May 1, when Mr. Koziol said
he expected that 5,000 cars would travel from Buffalo to Albany to protest the Oneidas.

The next court hearing on the land-claim issue is scheduled for May 26. The court-
appointed mediator, Ronald J. Riccio, who was brought in last month to try and broker
a compromise, has arranged two mediation sessions and has visited the land-claim
area, and said he planned more visits and more meetings. Mr. Riccio, the mediator who
is also dean of Seton Hall University School of Law, described the progress as
encouraging, even suggesting that there might be some kind of agreement in mid-May.

''It's possible; I'm not ruling it out,'' Mr. Riccio said. ''At least what's possible is you can
come up with the broad framework of a settlement. I think the actual implementation
would take some time, but you want everyone to say, 'Yes, these are the components of a
settlement,' and I think we're at the stage where I think everybody has a good idea of
what the components are.''

Photo: William Taylor, lead counsel for the Oneida Indian Nation, in Syracuse, N.Y. The
Oneidas are claiming land that they say was illegally seized. (Associated Press)

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