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8 NARF Legal Rev. 1 (1982)

handle is hein.journals/narf8 and id is 1 raw text is: Eastern Indian Land Claims Bill* On June 22nd, the House Interior Committee will hold hearings on a bill to extinguish Indian claims to lands in New York and South Carolina. The Ancient Eastern Indian Land Claims Settlement Act would remove any ongoing Indian land cases then in court; it would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to judge the credibility of these claims; it would extinguish 100% of the value of the land claims and 95% of monetary values; and it would permit only certain claims for set monetary damages to go to the U.S. Court of Claims. The legislation, H.R. 5494 and its companion Senate bill, S. 2084, were introduced on February 9th by a handful of eastern lawmakers, including Senators Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.), and Representa- tive Gary Lee (R-N.Y.). The legislation was initiated by Lee, who represents a district which includes much of the Cayuga , tion land claim in New York. The Cayuga claim was the ject of congressional legislation in 1980, but was killed on the House floor by Lee and over the objections of Interior Committee Chairman Morris Udall (D-Az.), who chairs that panel today. The Cayuga claim, forced into court by failure of the settlement legislation, is one that would now be forced out of court by this bill. In addition, NARF cases filed on behalf of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, the Thames Band of Oneidas in Canada, and the Catawba Tribe of South Carolina also would be devastated by enactment of this legislation. As originally drafted, the Lee bill would have retroactively ratified illegal land transactions between Indians and all East- ern states, and barred all federal district courts from hearing Indian land cases. In a July 29, 1981 letter to David Stock- man, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a former House colleague, Lee wrote: Per our conversation last evening, I have enclosed for your review a detailed conceptual framework of legisla- tion to permanently resolve the Indian land claims prob- lems. I am extremely pleased with your decision to endorse the concept of this legislative approach, and look forward to working with you over the August recess to finalize an effective, least-cost solution. *For the last ten years, the Native American Rights Fund has been representing . ious eastern tribes in their efforts to assert their claims to lands taken in violation of l eral law. NARF has worked with tribes to achieve negotiated settlements to land claims in Rhode Island and Maine, and is now involved in eight other eastern Indian land claims which are now in various stages of negotiation or litigation. When word of these close dealings between Lee and the Administration leaked out, the National Tribal Chairmen's Association, on January 6, 1982, called upon Congress to reject this repugnant approach, stating that the bill con- templates a massive and unconstitutional taking of present valid Indian titles to certain lands without due process of law. ... and would ratify and approve earlier thefts of Indian lands in those states which are the subject of several active court cases and negotiations. Prior to its introduction, more than 10 versions of the legislation were written with the assistance of Interior, Jus- tice and OMB drafters. As states contacted by Lee declined the opportunity to be named in the legislation, the final draft narrowed the scope to claims in Connecticut, New York and South Carolina. Then, on February 8th, one day before the Lee-D'Amato press conference to announce the introduc- tion of the legislation, Connecticut Governor William O'Neill wrote to congressional leaders and to sponsors of the legisla- tion, stating that Connecticut's name should be removed from the bill: Historically, Connecticut has strongly sup- ported the ability of the tribes within our State to rebuild their (continued on page 3) Contents Spring 1982 Vol. 8, No. 1 Eastern Indian Land Claims Bill .................. 1 Case Developments ............................ 4 Visions of the Earth, 1982 Art Show .............. 8 Book Review: Cohen Revision ................... 7 Maine Tribes' Donation to NARF ................ 3 NARF N ews ................................... 6 The Native American Rights Fund is a non-profit, Indian- controlled organization supported by foundations, companies, federal programs, Indian tribes, individual donors and other sources. NARF works exclusively for Indian rights by providing legal representation in such major areas as tribal sovereignty and self-determination cases, tribal resources, and the preservation of tribal existence and Native American cultures. Requests for assistance should be directed to Jeanne Whiteing, Deputy Director. NARF requests expenses and attorney fees from those clients with ability to pay. Digitized from Best Copy Available

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