Department of Justice Seal

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.
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