PATAKI VETOES INDIAN SALES TAX COLLECTION BILL

Governor George Pataki has once again demonstrated his willingness to
negotiate on a government-to-government basis with Indian nations. New
York’s Republican governor on Nov. 15 vetoed a measure from the state
Legislature that would have required his administration to collect state
sales taxes on fuel and tobacco sold by Indian retailers to non-Indian
customers.

Last June, the state Senate (by a 56 – 1 margin) and then the Assembly (139
– 8) approved legislation requiring tax collection on reservation-based
transactions to commence on Jan. 1, 2005. The measure was sponsored by
Assemblyman Bill Magee, a Democrat representing Nelson, which is located in
Madison County, southeast of Syracuse. A significant part of the county
lies with in a 250,000-acre tract claimed by several tribes of Oneida
ancestry.

The action followed previous legislative attempts to create regulations
aimed at forcing the Taxation and Finance Department to collect New York’s
high tobacco and fuel taxes on sales taking place in Indian country. The
department, on Pataki’s orders, has yet to implement the regulations.

“I believe we can do this through consent, where we can reach agreements
with tribal nations,” Pataki told the Associated Press and other reporters
at a post-veto news conference. The governor added that he has repeatedly
tried to engage the state’s tribes in good faith negotiations to settle not
only the tax collection issue, but also land claims and casino gaming
rights.

On Nov. 16, a spokesman from the Oneida Nation of New York agreed that “a
negotiated solution that respects the sovereign rights of both parties is
the only way that disputes between two governments can be effectively
settled,” according to a report in the Syracuse Post-Standard. The Oneida
and other tribes within New York state have steadfastly refused to act as
tax collection agents for the state, calling such a role an infringement on
their sovereignty.

In 1997, Pataki attempted to force sales tax collections by the state’s
tribes. He was met with stiff and vehement resistance that escalated into
violence. Militant Indian protesters burned tires and blocked a stretch of
Interstate 90, the State Thruway, between Buffalo and the Pennsylvania
border. Since then, Pataki has preferred a negotiated approach.

The Legislature was reported to be considering a return to Albany on Dec. 6
to consider an override of Pataki’s Indian tax collection veto. In 1994,
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that such tax collection was in fact legal.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ONEIDA TAX CASE

AP and Staff reports

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Jan. 11 in the
Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation case. This case is another attempt to
clarify whether non-Indian governments can tax American Indian property.

The Supreme Court decided to accept the Sherrill case in a June 24
conference after earlier requesting a brief from the U.S. government on the
issues. U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson argued strongly against the
grant of certiorari, saying that the Iroquois land claims suits now
crawling through lower courts would provide a better basis for deciding
major issues. He characterized the Sherrill case as a narrow ruling on
whether Indian title remained valid on illegally alienated former
reservation territory reacquired by the Oneida Nation. (Four Directions
Media, an Oneida Nation enterprise, publishes Indian Country Today.)

The city of Sherrill believes the Oneida Nation should pay taxes on
nation-owned land located within the city. The Oneidas maintain the land is
Indian-owned and non-taxable and hope the high court reaffirms the decision
of the lower courts.

The Oneidas once controlled a vast area in Central New York, extending from
the Pennsylvania border north to the St. Lawrence River and from the shores
of Lake Ontario to the western edge of the Adirondacks. In 1794, the Treaty
of Canandaigua recognized that the Oneida reservation covered approximately
300,000 acres including lands in present-day Madison and Oneida counties.
During the 1800s, much of this original reservation was acquired by the
state and resold to non-Indians. Federal courts have ruled that because the
state had no authority to buy Indian land without federal approval, these
sales were invalid and thus formed the basis for the nation’s outstanding
land claim.

The claim encompasses more than 250,000 acres in Madison and Oneida
counties and remains unsettled.

PATAKI SIGNS OUT OF STATE CASINO DEAL

AP and Staff reports

ALBANY, N.Y. – Gov. George Pataki has inked an unprecedented deal with an
out of state tribe to potentially bring a casino to the Catskills. On Nov.
12, Pataki and LeRoy Howard, chief of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
signed an agreement. Under the compact, the tribe will relinquish its
interest in the $247.9 million federal court judgment obtained jointly with
the Cayuga Indian Nation in 2002 and indemnify the state for final monetary
judgment in the land claim case up to $350 million in exchange for the
right to establish a Catskills casino. The agreement also calls for the
tribal collection of state sales taxes.

The compact, which still requires approval by Congress and the State
Legislature, is opposed by other Indian nations within the state.