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Law
U.S. Supreme Court weighs Cayuga land claim


The U.S. Supreme Court will meet in private conference this Thursday to consider the Cayuga land claim.

The Cayuga Nation of New York and the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma filed suit over 64,000 acres of stolen land in New York. A federal judge awarded the tribes $247 million for the loss of the land.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. In a 2-1 decision, the judge said the tribes waited to long to file suit and said the "disruptive" nature of the claim was foreclosed by the Supreme Court's decision in Sherrill v. Oneida Nation, a land-into-trust case.

The tribes, backed by the Bush administration, appealed. Briefs in support of the tribes were filed by the Onondaga Nation, the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, the Haudenosaunee, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and the National Congress of American Indians.

Briefs in opposition were filed by New York Gov. George Pataki (R) and the other state defendants.

The justices will announce whether they will hear the case next week.

Get the Story:
Court to review tribes' case (The Syracuse Post-Standard 5/8)

Supreme Court Briefs:
Cayuga Indian Nation of New York v. Pataki

Cayuga Land Claim Decision:
Cayuga Nation v. New York (June 28, 2005)

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

Relevant Links:
NARF-NCAI Tribal Supreme Court Project - http://doc.narf.org/sc/index.html

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