And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: * From: iktomi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Oneidas won't rule out eviction, federal government does http://hotnews.syracuse.com/cgi-free/getstory.cgi?n0588_AM_NY--OneidaLandCla im&S YR&news&syroneida By WILLIAM KATES Associated Press Writer SYRACUSE NY (AP) -- The federal government on Monday ruled out evicting private landowners from Oneida Indian ancestral lands in upstate New York. The Oneidas, though, would not make the same promise as a federal judge questioned tribal lawyers on their reasons for wanting to include 20,000 private property owners in Madison and Oneida counties in their claim to 250,000 acres. Although the Oneidas have stated publicly on repeated occasions that they do not want to take anyone's property, their attorneys told U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn that they wished to preserve eviction as a possible remedy as well as the possibility of collecting monetary damages from individual landowners. "We must include those who are currently trespassing," said William W. Taylor, who represents the Oneida Nation of New York, one of three Oneida tribes involved in the land claim. "The parties who own the land should be in the courtroom. That's a fundamental right of fairness," he said, urging McCurn to include the landowners in the land claim. McCurn listened for an hour as attorneys argued for and against expanding the Oneida Nation's land claim and then spent two hours questioning them. From his questions, it appeared McCurn was reluctant to add the property owners. "Why can't you get complete relief from the state of New York? Why do you need these landowners involved?" McCurn asked. McCurn did not immediately rule on the Oneida's request. He scheduled an attorney's conference for May 26 but said he hoped the land claim could be settled out of court before that date. McCurn in February appointed Seton Hall Law School Dean Ronald Riccio as a settlement master to help mediate a resolution. The Oneidas filed their first lawsuit to recover lost land in 1970. The U.S. Supreme Court found in 1985 that most of the land was seized in questionable transactions with the state and private individuals and ruled the Oneidas were entitled to compensation for 250,000 acres. The lawsuit was put on hold for 13 years as the state and tribe tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a settlement. Those talks languished in recent years until December when the U.S. Justice Department intervened in the stalled negotiations. The Justice Department told the Oneidas that they had to generate fresh litigation and add private property owners. Protests and passions have erupted in the weeks since the Oneida's announced their plans to expand their land claim. Four citizen groups have formed to oppose the Oneidas. Their meetings are attended by hundreds of residents. In January, protesters formed a 600-vehicle convoy that drove from Rome to Verona to publicize their plight. They are planning another motorcade from Syracuse to Albany on May 1. On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. O'Connell Jr. announced in court that the federal government no longer considered eviction as a possible remedy. However, O'Connell said the federal government still supported adding the private landowners to the lawsuit otherwise "this case will never, ever come to rest." "It is apparent that our case was misinterpreted. We never, ever intended that tens of thousands of businesses and landowners would be forcibly removed," he said. The federal government's decision drew praise from Gov. George Pataki, Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, who all had written the Justice Department in protest. But all three are still pressing for private landowners to be omitted from the claim. Attorney G. Robert Witmer, who represented the two counties, said the Oneidas' motion was "a blatant effort" to coerce New York state into a settlement by "spreading terror in the hearts of landowners." Witmer asked if the Oneidas do not want to evict landowners, why they need to include them in the claim. He said if their purpose was to instigate new negotiations, then they have already achieved that with McCurn's appointment of Riccio. Taylor said the Oneidas could file individual lawsuits against each landowner in the claim area but that bringing them "under one roof" in a class action made the case more manageable for the court. Instead of making the case more manageable, Witmer said adding 20,000 new defendants would turn it into "a monster." Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. 3/29/99 7:14 PM ----------------------------------------------------- Other Land Claim Links: - Oneida Indian Nation: http://oneida-nation.net/ - Madison County - Information Site on the Oneida Indian Nation Land Claims: http://www.madisoncounty.org/claimhome.html - Madison Region Site: http://www.madisoncountyny.com/landclaim/ - Oneida County - Land Claim Information Site: http://www.oneidacounty.org/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
