By: Michael Hill - Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A lawyer advocating the Onondaga Nation's claim to a massive swath of land running down the middle of New York state assured a federal judge Oct. 11 that the tribe does not intend to evict anyone, but wants to wipe away a historic stain.
That contention was countered by Assistant Attorney General David Roberts, who argued the 4,000-square-mile land claim by the Onondaga Nation, if successful, could set the stage for evictions in the future. Roberts made the argument as he tried to convince U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn to dismiss the tribe's 2005 lawsuit.
''It's inherently disruptive,'' Roberts said.
More than 100 Onondagas and their supporters overfilled the courtroom to hear the arguments. Dozens of Onondagas, many in traditional clothing, took the three-hour bus ride from their small reservation south of Syracuse to listen, and nodded when lawyer Robert ''Tim'' Coulter argued that a judgment in their favor would erase an injustice dating to when New York illegally took their land centuries ago.
''The nation itself has been thrown off its land and it doesn't want to do that to anyone else,'' said Coulter, who heads the Indian Law Resource Center.
Read more here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415950
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