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JANUARY 31, 2001

The trial over the Seneca Nation's claim to Grand Island and other islands in the Niagara River of New York continued on Tuesday as lawyers from the state said the tribe never had ownership of them in the first place.

Therefore, a treaty in which the tribe sold the islands to the state for $1,000 plus $800 a year annually was not valid, says the state. Lawyers for the tribe, however, say the islands were part of the treaty and since it was never approved by the federal government, the tribe was wrongly relieved of the land.

US District Judge Richard Arcara will decide on the case rather than have it go to a trial, which could take longer.

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Arguments continue in Seneca Nation's claim of ownership of Grand Island (AP 1/30)