NY Tribe wins land-into-trust lawsuit

In a long running battle between several New York counties and cities and the Oneida Nation over the U.S. government taking land-into-trust for the Nation, the tribe won a federal lawsuit on Sept. 28.

A federal judge in New York rejected a slew of challenges to the Oneida Nation’s land-into-trust application.

Judge Lawrence E. Kahn said the land-into-trust provisions of the Indian Reorganization Act do not violate the U.S. Constitution. He upheld the legality of the tribe’s Turning Stone Resort and Casino and the recent transfer of surplus military land to the tribe.

The rulings came in a series of lawsuits filed by the state of New York and several municipalities. They were filed after the Interior Department said it planned to take 13,000 acres into trust for the tribe.

Kahn has not ruled on the legality of the proposed acquisition, which has not reached a final agency decision at Interior.

Judge rules for Oneida Indian Nation in trust case (The Syracuse Post-Standard 9/29)
Nation wins several trust land suits (The Oneida Dispatch 9/29)

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