FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1997 (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MOVES TO RESOLVE INDIAN LAND DISPUTE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today intervened in a federal lawsuit brought by the Seneca Nation over Indian land in Allegany County, southeast of Buffalo, that New York State illegally obtained from them in the nineteenth century. According to the Department's papers filed today in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York State tried to buy or condemn land from the Nation in several transactions between 1858 and 1872, without the consent of the United States Congress. A 1790 federal statute prohibits the purchase of land from Indians without congressional consent. "Through today's action, we seek to have the Senecas' historical land claims justly and finally resolved," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "New York State violated a law established by this country in its earliest days to protect Indians from unfair loss of their lands. It is time to correct this historical wrong and move forward." The federal government's intervention will prevent the state from successfully arguing that it should be dismissed from the cases due to a June 1997 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Idaho v. Couer d'Alene Tribe of Idaho, where the Court held that Indian tribes may not bring land claims in federal court against state officials. This ruling does not apply to the federal government, which may sue states in federal court. If New York is dismissed from the case, the only defendants remaining would be private landowners and the county, even though the state obtained the land improperly. With New York remaining as a defendant, it can be held liable to compensate the tribe. The Seneca claim, originally filed by the tribe in 1985 in U.S. District Court in Rochester, involves 50 acres of land near Cuba Lake. The Senecas sued New York State, state officials, and private individuals leasing state land. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt remarked, "We would prefer to see this matter resolved through a settlement discussion with New York State and the Seneca Nation. However, if necessary we are prepared to litigate." Similar Indian land claims in other states have been resolved through negotiation. In those claims, the tribes, the state, and the United States have reached agreements that have compensated tribes and eliminated questions about the land title of present-day owners. In some of these settlements, tribes bought land from willing sellers to create or expand a reservation. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that no time limitation applies to these Indian land claims. ### 97-341