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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2003

The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma is suing New York Governor George Pataki (R) over his refusal to recognize the tribe's historical and legal ties to the state.

The tribe's ancestors were removed to points West and ended up in Oklahoma, where they have a reservation. The tribe recently purchased 229 acres within its land claim area.

But Pataki says the tribe can't claim the property as Indian Country and definitely can't use the land for a gaming facility. "By leaving New York and accepting reservations created for it in Ohio and later Oklahoma, the Oklahoma tribe gave up any interest it may have had in a New York reservation," Pataki and state attorney general Eliot Spitzer wrote in a letter to the National Indian Gaming Commission that was quoted by The Albany Times-Union.

Get the Story:
Oklahoma tribe fights for bingo parlor (The Albany Times-Union 6/4)

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