The Interior Department is seeking more time to produce records relating to its decision to acquire 13,000 acres into trust for the Oneida Nation of New York.

The records are being requested as part of litigation against the department. Some long-running Freedom of Information Act requests haven't been fulfilled either, according to opponents of the decision.

All of the land at issue is within the boundaries of the Oneida Reservation as defined by the 1974 Treaty of Canandaigua. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tribe must go through the land-into-trust process before asserting sovereignty over recently acquired properties.

Four lawsuits are challenging Interior's decision. Some raise constitutional challenges to the Indian Reorganization Act.

Get the Story:
Feds seek more time on land trust documents (The Oneida Dispatch 9/12)

Relevant Documents:
Record of Decision | Final EIS (March 2008) | Draft EIS (November 2006)

From the Indianz.Com Archive:
BIA official calls high court ruling 'quite depressing' (March 31, 2005)
Major defeat for Oneida Nation in Supreme Court case (March 30, 2005)

Relevant Links:
Indian Nation Fee-to-Trust Land Acquisition Applications in New York State - http://www.dec.ny.gov/public/888.html
Oneida Indian Nation's Land Into Trust Application, Madison County - http://www.madisoncounty.org/motf/OINTrustMain.html

Sherrill v. Oneida Nation Decision:
Syllabus | Opinion [Ginsburg] | Concurrence [Souter] | Dissent [Stevens]

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Rep. Arcuri: Negotiate Oneida Nation land claim (6/6)
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