http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1827931
Seneca Nation Sends New York State $31.6 Million Quarterly Exclusivity Payment

The whole dispute between the State and tribe was that the State started advertising it's racinos as casinos and the Seneca started to lose business because of it. Under IGRA a tribe has to be granted an exclusivity zone (monopoly area) before a State can get a share of the revenue. There were no casinos in the exclusivity zone and no complaints until the State started their false advertizing. Years and years and hundreds of millions of dollars later the State finally agreed to stop lying. Now they all celebrate as though Prince Cuomo did something.

It's like being elated at your income tax refund until you realize it was all your money and the taxman took more than he had coming and gave you back a small portion of what was yours anyway.

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x539823906/Some-land-tax-reimbursement-coming

April 2, 2014
Some land-tax reimbursement coming
By DENISE A. RAYMO Press-Republican

MALONE — Franklin County is getting a $700,000 reimbursement from the state for unpaid taxes on disputed parcels in the St. Regis Mohawk land-claim area.

The county is actually owed more than $9 million, "but this is great. We're happy to get that," said Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury), who was instrumental in obtaining the payment.

The reimbursement was included in the budget agreement reached Monday between the State Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"This will certainly help the county with its cash flow with respect to collecting unpaid taxes," County Treasurer Bryon Varin said. "We appreciate the efforts of Sen. Little, (Assemblywoman) Janet Duprey and the governor."

Little (R-Queensbury) said she initiated the legislation after seeing another American Indian tribe in New York receive similar funding in the 2013 budget.

"Last year, there was an agreement to give money to the Senecas, and when we saw that happening, I spoke to the representative from Cayuga, who said he wanted $1 million," she said.

"I said, 'So do I,' for the Akwesasne Mohawks and Franklin County."

She wrote letters, contacted and then lobbied the appropriate Senate Finance Committee members and others in the decision-making process and was able to garner the $700,000.

"It will really help," the senator said, adding that "the governor is going to be restarting talks on land claims, so that is something that we could have a resolution to in the near future."

LAND-CLAIM TALKS

There are 824 parcels in dispute, including one that has seen no town, school or county taxes paid since 1978.

When taxes are not paid, the county makes municipalities, including villages, whole by taking on that unpaid debt.

The county was owed about $9,083,000 as of Dec. 31, Varin said, adding that it has taken title to 90 of the involved parcels.

Cuomo announced last May that land-claim talks would resume and that terms of an agreement reached but never ratified in 2005 would be the starting point for discussions about the land the Mohawks say was taken illegally by New York state.

http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-ne...ounty-tax-rolls
Oneida Indian Nation properties coming off Madison County tax rolls

More than 100 properties in Madison County will be removed from the county’s tax rolls as part of the settlement agreement with the Oneida Indian Nation.

Full article at url link.

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/...2c4e1ef5a9.html
Wyoming senators author bill refuting EPA ruling that Riverton is reservation land

In a counterblow aimed at ending the boundary dispute over the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso drafted a bill with the aid of Gov. Matt Mead's office to refute the EPA decision that Riverton is part of the reservation.

The trio's legislation is the latest step in a border war that’s pitted members of the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes against Wyoming's elected officials.

The conflict, sparked by the EPA ruling, has ignited tensions between tribal and non-tribal residents of central Wyoming and fueled a debate over which governmental officials have jurisdiction to determine reservation boundaries.

Each side claims the other is unqualified to determine a boundary.

The Northern Arapaho's neighbors on the reservation, the Eastern Shoshone, are less heated about the bill.

"Generally speaking, these types of bills often save everybody time and money in regards to court actions," said Kimberly Varilek, the tribe's attorney general. "I think once the tribe has the chance to review the proposed bill they will certainly reach out to the congressional delegation and engage with the senators and the state of Wyoming in regards to the impacts across the board."


(Note: save time and money are two things Senators Schumer and Clinton refused to do when we were in the midst of land claims. Schumer told me he would not get involved as long as there was ongoing litigation. Hillary's office told me they checked with Schumer's office every morning to ask how they should vote. )


http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-an...18aef8c3b9.html
Wyoming tribe leaders blast U.S. Senate draft bill


Tribe leaders are opposing a bill co-sponsored by Wyoming's congressional delegation regarding the boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation.

The legislation would clarify the reservation boundary.

The boundary came under question after the Environmental Protection Agency issued a decision in December that included Riverton as part of the reservation. The draft bill would declare that the city's 171,000 acres have never been part of the reservation shared by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho and will remain outside its borders.

In a statement, the Northern Arapaho leaders said the bill should "appall and worry Native American people everywhere."

Eastern Shoshone Business Council Chairman Darwin St. Clair said that Riverton is part of the Eastern Shoshone homeland since "time immemorial."


(Note: "time immemorial" for the Cayuga tribe was from the 1550's when they stole the land thru 1789 when they sold it. )

Ha. Good one.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.co...rk-state-154399
NAFOA Conference to Honor Historic Agreement Between Oneida Nation & New York State

(Note: nothing beats owning your own media to pat yourself on the back)

http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-ne...oney-from-state
Madison County still waiting on $11 million settlement money from state

The Madison County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution at its meeting Tuesday, officially dropping all litigation and tax bills, liens and foreclosures against the Nation. The resolution, as part of the settlement, includes 115 Nation-owned parcels throughout the county, including one in Fenner, 13 in Canastota, 34 in Lenox, eight in Lincoln, four in Smithfield, 49 in Stockbridge and six in Sullivan.
The properties will not be taxable either retroactively or in the future.

As part of the settlement, Madison County will receive an $11 million payment from the Nation. Being passed through the state, the county was expected to receive that money April 1. As of Tuesday, Chairman John Becker said the state hasn’t delivered.

"The Nation has done their share, we've done our share," he said. "But the state has not."

(Note: well it WAS due on April FOOLS Day.)


http://romesentinel.com/news?newsid=20140409-006908
County removing Oneida Indian Nation properties from tax rolls
Properties in Oneida County owned by the Oneida Indian Nation are to be removed from the county's tax rolls as part of the recently enacted broad settlement with the tribe.

As part of the settlement reached last year by the state, nation, and the two counties, the counties are canceling all delinquent tax liens against tribe-owned properties and ending foreclosure proceedings. This agreement was approved by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence E. Kahn last month and sought to end a number of ongoing disputes involving the Oneidas and the state and counties, including property taxes.

The Oneidas own about 10,000 acres of land in the county. Until now, many of the parcels have been listed on assessment rolls as taxable, even though the Oneidas never paid taxes on them.

The nation did not pay property taxes on the grounds of sovereignty. However, a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision said that the nation could not unilaterally assert tax immunity on land that the Oneidas bought. In response, the tribe then sought tax-free federal trust land status for approximately 17,000 acres in the two counties in order to maintain sovereignty.

(Note: that STILL has three lawsuits against it which could throw a wrench in the alleged settlement. )

http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-ne...t-isnt-over-yet
GOP candidate Claudia Tenney tells UCE 'the fight isn’t over yet'

Upstate Citizens for Equality members got a chance to speak face-to face with Congressional Republican primary candidate Claudia Tenney at the group's April 14 meeting.

The New York Assemblywoman, who's challenging incumbent Richard Hanna for the 22nd district House seat, told the group she stands behind them on all the issues on which they oppose the Oneida Indian Nation, from the land claim to the settlement issues.

Tenney also told the group that she is firmly against the Indian land claim and that she fully supports UCE in their pending cases in federal court.

"Name something that's more unconstitutional than what is happening here," Tenney said. "I can't think of anything."

Tenney said that she wants to see the Oneida Indian Nation and its enterprises pay their fair share of taxes in the area, and that in her eyes, the 2013 settlement agreement Gov. Andrew Cuomo brokered does nothing but derail the progress the UCE and local municipalities have made to win back what was taken from them by the Oneida Indian Nation.

"We've won already, why are they doing this now?," Tenney said. "It all comes down to who you have in office. Those people have to enforce it."

Later in the meeting, Tenney addressed the members of UCE; "I've come here to speak to you, because you guys are our last line of defense on this issue."

Tenney commended Oneida County Legislator Chad Davis for all he has done to speak out against the settlement agreement. Earlier in the meeting, Davis had voiced his support for Tenney, and most if not all of those in attendance seemed to agree with him that she was cut out for the job.

Tenney said that she is not happy with her opponent's approach to dealing with the Oneida Indian Nation and the affairs surrounding the settlement agreement and ongoing court battles involving the OIN.

"I don't have an issue with Congressman Hanna, other than the fact that I don't think he understands the power of how state and federal government works," Tenney said. "Hanna should be taking a position on this issue and helping us."

(Note: Hanna runs from the subject, never understood anything and is as valuable as an empty fire extinguisher. Throw the bum out. )

Before Tenney arrived, the beginning of the meeting was spent talking about current events and the settlement agreement. Acting President Scott Peterson noted that Madison County had still not received its $11 million check from the state. He also spent a good portion of the beginning of the meeting talking about the Cliven Bundy Ranch seizure in Navada, and commended that group for their actions against the Bureau of Land Management. Davis spent a portion of the meeting discussing his letter to Hanna about Native American affairs, general settlement issues and other motions that the Legislature has been taking, as well as answering general questions from the group about what Oneida County can still do. Davis said that the settlement, in his eyes, is not final and "the fight isn’t over yet."

UCE will hold its next monthly meeting on May 17, 7 p.m. in the Costello Conference Center.

http://www.onondaganation.org/news/2014/onondaga-nation-files-second-historic-land-rights-case/
Onondaga Nation Files Second Historic Land Rights Case
April 15, 2014

On April 15, 2014, the Onondaga Nation filed a Petition against the United States with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), part of the Organization of American States (OAS). A goal of OAS is to achieve an order of peace and justice within the Americas, which the Onondaga Nation is seeking with this petition.

"Since 1788, 2.5 million acres of land have been stolen from the Onondaga Nation by New York State," said Joe Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation. "The failure of the US court system to protect the Onondaga Nation's ancestral homeland has left the Nation with no choice but to seek assistance for human rights violations from the international community."

(Note: OK, let me know how that works out for ya.)

The Onondaga Nation filed a land rights action in the United States District Court on March 11, 2005, which the federal court dismissed. The Nation then appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed that dismissal. Finally, the Nation filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court seeking review of the dismissal and its affirmance.

"On October 15, 2013, the Supreme Court denied that petition," added Joe Heath. "Therefore, no further remedy is available for the Onondagas in the United States court system. As a United States citizen working on behalf of the nation, this saddens me as the case's merits were never heard in court."

(Note: As a U.S. citizen I am saddened by the hundreds and hundreds of lawsuits whose merits were never heard in court based on tribal sovereign immunity. )

I explained to Hanna how the only authorities granted to the three branches of government were in the Constitution. Plus Congress did not have authority to take land from states and place it into federal trust land for tribes. So, therefore, Congress could not grant such authority to the Secretary of the Interior because Congress itself did not possess it to give.

His response was to write a letter to the DOI asking where they got the authority to take land into trust. Of course they told him Section 5 of the IRA, which I had already told him, and he dropped the ball.

The Howard – Wheeler Act as written only authorized unclaimed federal territories to be placed into trust.
Section 3: Authorizes the secretary of the interior to restore to tribal ownership the remaining surplus lands of any Indian reservation opened to sale or other disposal provided that the rights or claims of any persons to any lands such on the date of the withdrawal shall not be affected.
https://www.iltf.org/resources/land-tenu...rganization-act

Section 5: Authorizes the acquisition of lands, water rights, surface rights, and interests by the U.S. government for Indians and declares that purchased lands shall be tax exempt.

Benefits under the act were only allowed to tribes who voted to accept the Act. The ILCA changed that requirement for tribes which already possessed two or more parcels of lands held in trust for them by the federal government. So of course such exception would only apply to tribes that were federally recognized on federal reservations.

As amended: or, except as provided by the Indian Land Consolidation Act, any other person for whom the Secretary of the Interior determines that the United States may hold land in trust (added by Public Law 106-462, title I, Sec. 106(c), Nov. 7, 2000, 114 Stat. 2207):

SEC. 5.
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to acquire through purchase, relinquishment, gift, exchange, or assignment, any interest in lands, water rights or surface rights to lands, within or without existing reservations, including trust or otherwise restricted allotments whether the allottee be living or deceased, for the purpose of providing land for Indians.

(Note: the catch of "any interest" still only applied to surplus federal lands but the DOI / BIA cherry pick words and phrases out of laws and ignore the acts themselves. One example is claiming treaties are the supreme law of the land [while treaties are one of the three supreme laws of the land, the others being the Constitution itself and any law passed by Congress.] Another example being Indians not taxed which only referred to apportionment of representation.

In this shell and pea game they ignore the surplus federal land requirement in the IRA and ignore the requirement of already possessing two or more parcels of federal trust land in the ILCA. That is what the DOI/BIA uses to justify placing 13,000 acres of state sovereign land into federal trust for the Oneida tribe.

Prince Andrew Cuomo and King Ray Halbritter reached an agreement whereby Andy gave Ray more than Ray even asked for, such as 25,000 acres of State land into federal trust, rescinded several court rulings which the State had paid tens of millions of dollars to win, drop existing foreclosure lawsuits in which King Ray had dropped his sovereign immunity defense and owed $110 million in back taxes on, and a promise never to oppose any future requests by Ray. All this in exchange for Ray agreeing to make payments to the state under a valid casino compact which could have been made by the State anyway because the State already lost Peterman v. Pataki proving the compact between Andy's father and King Ray was unconstitutional because it was never approved by the state legislature.

But Andy decided to violate rather than uphold the State Constitution, violate rather than uphold State Law 10 requiring him to defend State sovereignty, and unilaterally ignored numerous state and federal laws to issue a decree in exchange for Ray promising not to oppose Prince Andy's push to legalize casinos under the State Constitution.

All the ding dongs do, the majority of which succumbed to Andy's intimidation, is argue over how much of the percentage each will get from the State from the slot machines. In the typical Democrat vote on it to see what is in it resulted in none of the school districts being included in the settlement. In NY, that amounts to 80% of the taxes so the pie in the sky promises, which could not be guaranteed anyway, were five times higher than the fictionalized reality.

The mob has bought the State and divided territories with the tribal mobs. Against this backdrop remain three lawsuits by UCE, CERA and municipalities which could negate any land being taken into trust and Hanna is clueless, but obviously he is not the only one.

http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-news/20140419/police-investigating-death-at-turning-stone
Police investigating death at Turning Stone

State police say they will be investigating the cause of death of a woman who possibly could have died from drug-related issues at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino last week.

According to police, a 55-year-old woman was found dead inside a hotel room at the facility on April 14. She was at the resort with a 57-year-old male companion who was transported to Oneida Healthcare following a medical emergency in the hotel lobby.

"I don't anticipate any updates. We have to wait for toxicology results to return which take several weeks," said state police spokesperson Jack Keller.

"A joint investigation is underway by Oneida Nation Police and New York State Police. We have no further comment at this time," Oneida Indian Nation spokesperson Brett Stagnitti said.

[Note: people have been found dead there almost daily since it opened and the county coroner is always swamped. Why the media picked this one to report is suspicious because they have failed to report thousands. ]

Maybe one reason the counties sales tax is the highest in upstate NY is to pay for all the coroners work?

Other than your typical suspicious musings, do you ANY evidence to indicate an actual causal relationship between the two?

I addition to dealing with the rest of the county, the casino more than doubled his workload. I know undertakers who have assisted him and he was told by the county not to report all the deaths because it would be bad for the casino business. It's all political and maybe the settlement changed things but thought this report was strange as a break from the censorship. Maybe it was reported because tribal competition supplied the drugs and they want opposition to their drug business quashed.

So, in other words... no, you don't.

Not all facts come from google searches, step out in the real world someday Timmy.

He's too far down that rabbit hole to do that.

He thinks we should go back to the year 1491 and everything would be wonderful in the Western Hemisphere.

Let's hear in your own words, a little about this "real world" that you seem to consider yourself to be enlightened about.

Wrong. What I think, is that people should stop falsely claiming to promote the cause of "equality under the law", when in fact they're only using the term as a smokescreen for what it is they truly desire. Namely, to acquire more property once stolen from a weaker victim.

Or... Selfish Greed.

Timbo, in your own words, I want you to say that you do not want to see all of North and South America given back to the Native Americans. Or is that what you want? Tell us one way or the other.