Posted on 12/21/2005 8:13:52 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
We are disappointed U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert will not call for the state's Indian tribes to be held to the same laws as everyone else, and ask that the Cayuga Nation's land-in-trust application be denied.
Boehlert last week announced that he helped secure an extension so that Cayuga and Seneca counties could have more time to respond to the Cayugas' application with the Department of the Interior. The tribes, having lost their bid for land sovereignty earlier this year (Oneidas v. Sherrill), are now petitioning to have the land put in trust, a way for them to sidestep the Supreme Court setback.
While Boehlert put his name to a press release Friday touting his role in getting the local counties an extension, the congressman would not call for the tribes' application to be rejected by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Instead, he offered what is becoming his trademark response: I will do what the county wants me to do.
On Friday, when pressed by The Citizen, Boehlert explained “my recommendation doesn't make a damn bit of difference.”
That's Boehlert's way of avoiding taking a stance.
Congressmen are constantly publicly calling for everything from troop withdrawals in Iraq to the withdrawal of Supreme Court nominees, whether they can make a “damn bit of difference” or not. But Boehlert will not call for anything that would ruffle the tribes because, as Oneida Indians' representative Ray Halbritter has put it, New York state tribes seem to have a “great friend” in Congressman Boehlert.
The Republican moderate has always touted the job creation of the Oneidas' Turning Stone Casino, and its economic impact (although he chooses not to see that county's tax rate is among the highest in the state, and that the Oneidas have fought to avoid paying taxes on their holdings). It should be noted that the Oneidas are also seeking to put their land in trust.
Boehlert's Republican opponent in his last two primaries, David Walrath, went to extraordinary lengths to point out Boehlert's connections with the Oneidas. At the very least, Boehlert seems unwilling to take any stance that may upset the tribes. But if the tribes are permitted to put their land in trust, they can continue to ignore state gaming, smoking and taxation laws, which would cost local businesses and taxpayers millions of dollars.
We shouldn't need to remind the congressman that out-of-state tribes didn't vote him into office. So we hope that he will listen to those who did and urge the Bureau of Indian Affairs to reject the Cayuga Nation's land-in-trust application.
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Can someone shed light on this statement? I have always been under the impression that treaties creating "sovereign" indian nations were bulletproof.
What is different in this case?
It's complicated, but basically it boils down to this.
During the days of the articles of confederation, the State bought the land from the Indians. Thereafter, Congress passed the "nonintercourse acts," which required Congressional approval of all treaties and land purchases.
200 years later, the various Indian tribes in NY decided they didn't like the old deal, so they sued for monetary damages and return of the land. After approximtely 25 years of legal wrangling, the Courts held that the docrine of "laches" (which is not unlike the statute of limitations) applied and that the Indians had waited too long to bring their claims.
Thereafter, the Indians began applying to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put land "in trust" for them, basically creating a series of reservations in the state. The state and counties are opposing the creation of the reservations, primarily because the land would untaxed and unregulated (but the counties would still have to provide municipal services to same).
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