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FROM: THE SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD NEWSPAPER

http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststa.../1113381746698
11.xml&coll=1

Oneida Nation's New Tack To Keep Land Off Tax Rolls

Oneidas ask to have land put in federal trust, where taxes and local laws
don't apply.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

By Glenn Coin and Alaina Potrikus
Staff writers

The Oneida Indian Nation has asked the federal government to make 17,000
acres in Madison and Oneida counties permanently free of taxes and local laws.
The
Oneidas announced Tuesday they had asked the federal government to take their
land into trust April 5. If the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs approves the
application, the Oneida land would be the first trust land in New York.
"Isn't that something," said Sherrill Mayor Joe Shay when he heard the news
Tuesday
afternoon. "There's always these twists and turns in this thing." The
Oneidas' announcement comes two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court said the
nation
must pay property taxes on parcels it owns in Sherrill. In the March 29 ruling,
however, the court notes that the Oneidas could apply to have the land set
aside by the federal government. "The Supreme Court detailed a road map for
providing certainty regarding the nation's rights in its lands, and the nation
is
going to follow that road map," said nation spokesman Mark Emery, in a
statement. Trust land is set aside by the federal government for a tribe's
exclusive
use. The land is free from all local taxes and controls, but tribes must obtain
federal approval to sell, lease or develop the property, said Stephen Pevar,
author of "The Rights of Indians and Tribes," an American Civil Liberties
Union handbook. Pevar, an ACLU lawyer, is not aware of any tribal trust ap-

plications being turned down. The final decision, which cannot be appealed,
rests with the BIA.

About 56 million acres across the country are held in federal trust for
Indians, Indian tribes and Alaska natives.

"It's very common," Pevar said, "especially in this day and age because
tribes really for the first time have the money so they can buy land."

Since the Indian Gaming Rights Act of 1988, tribes across the country have
opened casinos and earned millions of dollars. The Oneidas opened Turning Stone
casino in 1993, and in 2002 posted a profit of $70 million.

Verona Supervisor David Reed said he didn't know how the trust application
would affect his town, where the nation owns about 20 percent of the land.

"What town supervisor has any knowledge of this land going into trust and
what it might mean?" Reed asked.

Verona will go ahead with plans to assess Turning Stone Resort and Casino and
put it on the tax rolls, Reed said. The town has hired American Appraisers
from Wisconsin, and Reed said company representatives will arrive in Verona
today.

"After consulting with the town attorney, it was decided we are still going
to move forward and do what we have to do," he said.

Madison County officials issued a statement Tuesday saying they were
"disappointed but not surprised" at the trust application. The county said it
will
oppose the application unless it is part of a settlement to end the 250,000-acre

Oneida Indian land claim.

"The Oneida Indian Nation of New York is again striking out on their own to
try to determine the future for the people of Madison and Oneida counties," the
statement reads.

Since the Oneidas began buying property in the early 1990s, they have
maintained the land is part of their ancestral property that was taken illegally
by
New York state. A federal judge and an appeals court in the Sherrill case
agreed, calling the Oneidas' land "Indian country" and beyond the reach of local

governments.

The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 vote, overturned those rulings.

"Everything on the table historically told us that the Oneidas had taken a
reasonable position," said Robert Odawi Porter, director of Syracuse
University's Center for Indigenous Law, Governance & Citizenship. "What the
Supreme Court
did in Sherrill was really throw a curveball - a screwball - at the law, and
set forward a set of out-of-the-blue principles to justify the position they
took."

Trust status also has disadvantages for the tribes. With the title to the
land held by the U.S. government, the tribe cannot use the property as
collateral
when negotiating a loan to start a business or develop the property.

"That's where a lot of tribes have trouble," said Gary Garrison, spokesman
for the BIA. "They have so much land in trust, they can't use it as collateral."

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